The Trinity
by MASC
Summary: Stephanie travels across neighboring cities to save LazyTown from an evil tyrant, who has overthrown the mayor and placed the entire town under a lazy spell. With Sportacus unable to help, it's up to our gal Steph to save the day. COMPLETE.
1. Good Morning LazyTown

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: MASC here. Please! Don't run! I swear I'm clean! Okay, then. Well for those of you who are familiar with my work, you might be surprised to know that this particular fic has (drum roll please) … __a plot!__ Gasp! Anyhoo… just read on and you'll see what I mean._**

**DISCLAIMER:  I do not own LazyTown. Some Icelandic dude does. Go shake it up with _him_, not me. Oh, and my tummy hurts.**

**LAZYTOWN: THE TRINITY**

It was a bright and sunny Saturday in LazyTown and there wasn't a child in sight that wasn't doing something active. The playgrounds were full but not crowded, neighbors got together in the park and enjoyed themselves as anyone else normally would.

The airship that hovered above the town circled around the clouds for a bit before coming to a complete stop. Sportacus, LazyTown's beloved above-average hero, began his morning workout which usually consisted of a variety of pushups, sprints, flips and other mind-boggling moves at a lightning fast speed. Afterwards, the hero wiped the sweat from his face with a towel and headed for the table, where a healthy breakfast awaited him.

Below on the surface, a certain pink-haired girl finished the remainder of her own breakfast and headed for the door, informing her uncle in the process.

"I'm going out now, uncle Milford!" She said.

"All right, Stephanie. Be back in time for lunch." He reminded her.

"Will do!"

And in an instant, the cheery young girl was outside and on her way to meet with her friends. It wasn't long at all when she stumbled upon Pixel and Trixie standing around a nearby tree, each wearing a pair of high-tech visors. The two were screaming and moving their bodies yet laughing at the same time much to Stephanie's bewilderment.

"Pixel?" The pink one started. "Trixie? Are you guys okay?"

"Is this boat fast or what!?" Pixel laughed out loud.

"It's awesome!" Trixie responded.

"Uh-oh! Mines!"

"Really! Oh, yeah! I see them!"

"I don't see anything…" Stephanie said, trying to understand what was going on.

"Oh no! Here comes the shark!" Trixie gasped.

"Shark!? Where!?" A scared Stephanie said as she ducked. After a moment, she realized she was on land and therefore a shark coming after her was as improbable as seeing an ABBA reunion.

After a few seconds, Pixel and Trixie removed the visors and laughed for a bit before noticing Stephanie.

"Oh… hey, Steph." Pixel said. "What's up?"

"What were you guys doing?" She asked. "And what are those things you're wearing?"

"Oh, these?" Pixel handed over one of the visors. "They're my 3-D adventure visors. It's like an interactive video game you can play without actually going anywhere."

"You mean virtual reality?"

"No. _Actual_ reality." Pixel then pressed a button on the side of the visor. In a few seconds, Stephanie found herself standing in the middle of a jungle, where several birds and other small animals fled.

"Pixel, what did you do!? Where am I!?" The young girl panicked. After hearing a loud thud, she slowly turned her head and looked up to see a viscous T-Rex staring down at her.

"Okay…" she breathed heavily. "This isn't funny, Pixel!"

The dinosaur started to drool as its huge, gaping mouth revealed a set of razor sharp teeth. By now, Stephanie was cringing with fear and closed her eyes, trying to make it go away. "This is all a dream! I'm not really here! It's all in my head!"

As the T-Rex lowered its head down to chew the young girl up, everything surrounding them suddenly vanished in a blink of an eye. The dinosaur was the last thing to vanish, leaving Stephanie screaming. Trixie and Pixel couldn't help but laugh at her misery.

"Got ya!" Pixel joked.

Stephanie realized the whole thing was an illusion and tried to keep her cool. "I… I knew that. I was just, uh… Playing along, y'know?"

"Yeah, sure!" A doubtful Trixie said. "Hey! Why don't we use it on Stingy!?"

"You know what he'll say."

The three paused for a moment then said in unison, "I want it!" They laughed for a bit then headed for the park with the rest of the kids.

¬¬¬¬¬

Below in his lair, Robbie Rotten awoke to the sound of children playing and laughing and immediately threw a fit.

"Oh, not _this _again!" He growled.

The resident villain scurried out of his fuzzy orange chair and headed over to the periscope. He set the viewing frequency at maximum then set his sights all over the town, disgusted at all the happy children enjoying themselves.

"Why?" He sighed. "Why did this have to happen? What ever happened to the good old days when LazyTown was actually _lazy_!? How could things go so wrong?"

¬¬¬¬¬

Back on the surface, all of the children gathered around and looked up at a tree, where Ziggy was hanging onto with all his might.

"Ziggy, how did you get stuck up there!?" Stephanie called out to her friend.

"I thought maybe there'd be a lollipop stuck in there somewhere!" He responded in a strained voice.

"Ziggy, when has there ever been a lollipop in an _apple_ tree!?"

"It could have been apple flavored!"

"What do we do?" One of the children asked.

"I don't know." Stephanie started to look around. "Wasn't there a ladder around here somewhere?"

The kids all turned their heads to see Stingy walking away with a ladder in his arms. He looked at them and shrugged. "What? It's mine!"

Stephanie then got an idea. "Just let go, Ziggy! We'll catch you!"

"No! I'm afraid!" He shouted. "You might miss!"

All of the children held out their arms, anticipating Ziggy's drop but tilted their heads at his remark.

"Really?" Trixie asked. "_Us_? _Miss_? Ha!" She then looked at Stephanie. "He's got a point, y'know."

"I can't… hold on… much… longer!" Ziggy said as he finally let go of the branch.

The children all gasped as he fell but before the young boy could land, he was suddenly swept away by a familiar looking hero in blue. After a few flips and a landing on the grass, Sportacus set Ziggy back down and kneeled before him.

"Are you all right, Ziggy?" The hero asked.

"Yes! Thank you, Sportacus!" The excited little boy responded as he gave him a hug. "That was amazing! You're the best!"

"Just try to be careful next time."

"I will! I promise!"

The hero then turned his attention to the rest of the children and greeted them with a smile. "Hi, kids!"

"Hi, Sportacus!" They all cheerfully responded.

¬¬¬¬¬

Robbie averted his view away from the periscope and nearly gagged. "Oh, _now_ I remember how things got so bad!" Robbie mimicked Sportacus' moves poorly and growled under his breath. "It's Sportakook's fault!"

Robbie then paced around his lair, thinking aloud to himself. "What would the founder of LazyTown think about all this nonsense!? He'd have a heart attack! _I_ might have a heart attack! Something must be done about all this! The future of my napping is at stake here!"

¬¬¬¬¬

Lunchtime came and after finishing her meal, Stephanie stumbled upon her uncle rummaging through his files in his office. Several books and documents were strewn about his desk as the mayor himself was straightening out the shelf.

"Hi, uncle. What are you doing?" A curious Stephanie asked.

"Oh, hello dear." Milford said as he began placing some of the books in the shelf. "I'm just straightening my things, that's all. I'm up for reelection, you know."

"I do. I hope you win again, uncle!"

"So do I. I've got plans for this town I'd like to see accomplished."

"Like what?"

"Well for one thing, I'd like to rebuild the roadway that leads to the Trinity."

"The what?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

"The Trinity. It's been blocked off for I don't know how long! It'd be nice to have the path open again."

"What's the Trinity?"

The mayor placed his hand on his head and chuckled. "Oh, dear. I never told you about the Trinity?"

"No."

"Sit down, my dear." Milford said as he picked up one of the many books from his collection and took a seat next to his niece. After flipping through the pages, he stopped on a map with three points in the form of a triangle. One of the points was abbreviated _CT_, another _LT_ and the other _HT_.

"You see, Stephanie, LazyTown is neighbor to two different cities miles apart from each other." He pointed at the mark abbreviated _LT_. "This is LazyTown. We are in the center of what is called the Trinity. It's been said that if one our cities suffers a crisis of some sort, the magic crystals that reside in each of the towns can help bring order and restore the balance."

"Magic crystals?" Stephanie was now skeptical.

"Well, it's just an old legend. The crystal part, I mean. The Trinity _does_ exist, however. And I want that roadway repaired as soon as I'm back in office for my, uhh… oh, dear. Which term would this be now?'

Stephanie attempted to remain focused on the Trinity. "Uncle, why is the road to the Trinity blocked off?"

"Well, I don't know exactly. On one end lies a wall built for the sole purpose of keeping someone out. Probably us. On the other end, the road is far too damaged for any vehicle to travel on and therefore it must be fixed."

"Uncle?"

"Yes, Stephanie?"

"How do you know the other two cities even exist?"

Milford thought for a moment. "Hmm. Good point." He then closed the book and shrugged the whole idea off. "Never mind!"

Just then, Bessie walked in with several documents in her hands. "Oh, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh, Ms. Busybody!" Milford immediately stood up. "I didn't hear you come in!"

"Never mind that, Milford! We have to start on working on your reelection campaign! You know what they say about those who procrastinate!"

Milford was left expressionless, anticipating Bessie to finish her sentence. "…Yes?"

She gave him a questionable look. "Yes what?"

"What do they say about those who procrastinate?"

She sighed. "Oh, forget about it! Now let's go over your agendas!"

Milford bowed his head and walked over to his assistant as Stephanie left the room. The pink-haired girl then headed back outside to play with her friends, who eventually met her back in the park.

¬¬¬¬¬

Robbie put the finishing touches on his latest invention and pressed a few buttons on what appeared to be a sort of mechanical wand. After flipping a small switch, a spiral running up along the pointed end of the wand started to swirl, leaving the villain quite pleased with himself.

"At last!" He said. "The Lazy Ray is ready to go. Now… All I need is a test subject."

He headed for the periscope and looked around the town, eventually stopping at the park. He then set his sights on a certain blue sports elf, who was exercising with all the neighborhood children, and grinned evilly.

"…And I think I've got just the one."

_**ANOTHER NOTE: Okay, folks. This is the beginning of a very different journey for me. I'm, uhh… kinda scared. I know what I'm doing but I don't know if I can pull it off. Let's hope I can see the light soon enough before I go even more crazy-go-nuts.**_


	2. Robbie's Plan

****

**Chapter 2**

Robbie climbed out of his lair with the Lazy Ray safely kept in his pocket. As he climbed down the ladder, he let off a sinister cackle.

"Once I turn Sportapuke into the laziest man in town, those kids are bound to follow his example! And if they don't…" He took out the mechanical wand and stared at it. "Then they'll have to answer to this baby!"

The villain started to head into town, passing by several residents with a cool and casual walk. He placed the Lazy Ray back into his pocket and put on a fake smile for all to see.

A little girl walked by him. "Hi, Robbie!"

The villain moved to the side, preventing any physical contact with her but kept his smile on. "Hello! Don't touch me…"

After a few moments, Robbie arrived at the park and hid behind a tree to spy on Sportacus as he and the children played.

"What should we do now?" Sportacus asked his young friends.

"How 'bout some soccer?" Stephanie suggested.

Stingy then gasped as he held his ball firmly. "With _my _ball!? Nuh-uh! No way!"

"But that's _my _ball!" A young boy said.

"Correction. It _was_ your ball."

The kids all groaned as Trixie shook her head. "Oh, Stingy!" She started. "When are you going to learn that not everything is yours?"

"Look! It's all simple logic! If I touch it, then it must be mine!"

"Well, how do you figure _that_ out?" Pixel asked.

"Let me put it to you this way. See this hand?" He asked, raising his left hand. "This is mine. See this ball?" He then placed his left hand on the ball. "Now _this_ is mine! See? Logic!"

"Haven't you ever heard of the word 'share', Stingy?" Stephanie asked her friend.

"Yeah, don't you know 'share'?" Ziggy added in.

Stingy nodded with a grin. "Share? Yeah, she's that lady with tattoos!"

"Gimme that ball!" Trixie demanded as she forced it from his hands.

"Okay but be gentle with it!"

As they all started their game, Robbie adjusted the settings on his Lazy Ray as he grumbled underneath his breath. "Lousy, no good Sportakook. Ruin_ my_ nap, will he? We'll just see about that…"

Robbie then targeted his ray at Sportacus as he kicked the ball over to Stephanie. Just as he pressed the button, the soccer ball came flying right back at the hero in blue. The red energy rings that came from the contraption soared right through the ball and away from Sportacus, thus causing no effect whatsoever.

"I missed!" Robbie growled as he adjusted the ray again.

As the game continued, Robbie desperately tried to set the right coordinates as a small, blue bird glided along the villain and distracted him.

"Shoo! Go away!" He swiped his hand at the bird.

The bird chirped and didn't leave Robbie alone, causing him to take drastic action. The villain pointed the ray at the bird and unleashed a set of energy rings that immediately took effect within the avian creature's body. The bird made a smooth landing on the ground and looked around like it was lost. Giving up, the bird turned over on its back and scratched itself before falling into a nap.

"Yes! It works after all!" Robbie leaped with joy, unaware that he caught everyone's attention.

"Hi, Robbie!" Stephanie called out to the man.

"Oh, great…" Robbie realized his mistake and hid the wand behind his back.

"You want to play with us?"

Sportacus nodded. "Yeah! How 'bout it, Robbie?"

"Me?" He shook his head. "Oh, no thanks! I think I'll just, uhh… _watch_, y'know?"

"Oh, come on!" Stephanie pleaded.

Robbie then got an idea and nodded. "Sure! If you insist." He chuckled a bit as he stroked the wand with his fingers.

A new game soon got underway with Robbie running along with the children, kicking the ball around whenever he could. But his agenda was to stay behind Sportacus by all means in order to shoot him with the ray. The problem for Robbie, though, was that Sportacus was too fast for him and for a man who hardly exercises, the run along the grass was challenging enough let alone the pursuit of a hyperactive blue sports elf.

"You'll have to run faster than that if you want the ball, Robbie!" Sportacus playfully teased.

After a while everyone stopped for a break, much to Robbie's delight. His plan to pull a fast one on Sportacus backfired miserably. He laid on the grass, out of breath and sweating like a pig.

"I'll be back with some snacks!" Sportacus called out to his friends as he went up into his airship.

Stephanie and the others sat around on the playground set, waiting for Sportacus to come back as Robbie started to crawl away.

"It must be nice to be a superhero." One of the children said with a gleam in her eye.

"It's not so bad." Stephanie shrugged.

"Oh yeah? How would _you_ know, Pinky?" Trixie joked.

"Hey! Don't you remember? _I_ was the town's hero once!"

"Yeah and look how _that_ turned out!"

Ziggy chuckled. "She's right, Stephanie. You just weren't cut out for the hero business."

"Well what about you? I seem to recall you training with Sportacus to be a hero yourself!"

"Oh, that was a long time ago! I'm interested in other things now!!"

Pixel shook his head. "Like what? Recyclable taffy?"

Ziggy let off a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, ha ha! Very funny!"

"Sorry."

"It's caramel, not taffy."

Stephanie shrugged. "Well, I guess you guys are right. It's a good thing Sportacus is here to take care of all the hero stuff."

Robbie continued to crawl away, panting with each movement and holding his wand tight. "Need… another… plan."

As Sportacus returned and passed out the bundles of sports candy, he noticed the troubled look on Stephanie's face and took her aside.

"Is something wrong, Stephanie?" He asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing." She tried to hide away from him.

"Really? It doesn't look like nothing."

Stephanie sighed and tried to explain. "Well, you see… we got to talking about how nice it must be to go around saving people and how everyone's always looking up to you."

Sportacus followed along. "…But?"

"But ever since I tried my hand at the whole hero thing, I never felt I actually did a good job."

"But you _did_, Stephanie. You helped save your friends. And I know it means a lot to them."

"But the thing is, I couldn't have done it without your help."

"Everybody needs help sometimes."

"But _you_ don't. I mean, yeah, there have been times when we bailed you out of some sticky situations but when it comes to flat out saving people…" She sighed with admiration. "…You're a natural."

"Stephanie, I don't think I'm following you." Sportacus scratched his head.

"I just wish there was some way I could prove myself a hero or something else laudable."

"But why? You've got nothing to prove to us."

Stephanie shrugged. "I guess it's something I have to prove to myself."

Up in a tree, Robbie hid behind the branches and leaves as he took out the Lazy Ray for one last attempt. After adjusting the settings, he aimed the wand at the hero in blue and cackled.

"All right. It's now or never…"


	3. One Last Effort

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am REALLY SORRY for the longer than usual update. The friggin' document manager was being a pain in the--oh, wait. This is supposed to be a kid's story. My bad. Let's just say certain tools on this site were being really bothersome and my patience was wearing thin... grrr. Anyways, here's chapter 3!_**

**Chapter 3**

Robbie took a deep breath and pressed the button one more time. Unfortunately, the villain missed yet again as a seemingly hyperactive child by the name of Ritchie jumped up behind Sportacus in an attempt to grab his attention.

"Hey, Sportacus! Me! Me! Me! Look at me!" He hopped up and down in a rapid fire voice.

"Oh, shazbot!" Robbie snapped.

Now, instead of Sportacus, the Lazy Ray's energy rings swarmed over the hyperactive tot and slowed him down immensely as he stopped jumping and looked around in a daze.

"Yes, Ritchie. I see you." Sportacus looked down on the boy.

The little boy scratched his head for a moment, wondering what it was he was doing. "Huh… that's funny."

Sportacus raised an eybrow. "Well? Aren't you going to hop around like always?"

Ritchie looked up at Sportacus and shrugged with a careless gaze. "Eh, I don't feel like it."

"You were doing it just a minute ago." Stephanie pointed out.

"Yeah but who cares?" The boy then lifted his shirt and scratched his belly while snorting. "I'm gonna go find me a bed and sleep on it."

"But it's only 2:00."

"That's my naptime…" The boy started to walk off when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and dropped to the floor. "I don't feel like walking. I think I'll just nap here."

"Something's not right." Sportacus shook his head.

Frustrated, Robbie slammed his fist against the bark of the tree and hurt himself by accident. This foolish move then led to him falling out of the tree backwards and landing flat on the grass where Stephanie and Sportacus approached him.

"There you are!" Stephanie said. "Where were you?"

Robbie stammered a bit. "Oh, I was just… uh… m-m-mowing? No! I was… uh, sc-scanning—scouting! Yeah, that's it! I was scouting the area!"

"For what?"

Robbie thought of another lie. "Uh… more people to play with?"

"Really?"

"Really." He then clapped his hands. "Well! If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do! It was nice playing with you but I must be leaving! Bye-bye! Take care! See ya later! Ciao!"

As Robbie walked off, Stephanie and Sportacus shook their heads. "You know, I just don't get him sometimes." Said the pink one.

"Never mind that." Sportacus said as he pointed to Ritchie, who was now asleep on the grass and snoring louder than a dump truck. "It's him I'm worried about."

"He's usually so jumpy. More than any of us." Stephanie thought. "I guess he must have burned himself out or something."

"I don't know…" Sportacus scratched his chin. "…It still seems a little weird."

"Do you think Robbie had anything to do with it?"

"It wouldn't be the first time."

¬¬¬¬¬

Robbie returned to his lair, growling and muttering under his breath. All his attempts to bring Sportacus down had all backfired and his knees were still sore from all that soccer.

"Oh, that Sportaflake! Why won't he stand still!? I can't blast him with the Lazy Ray with everyone watching or they'll put me away!" He rested his head against a table and thought for a few moments. "There has to be some loophole I can find in the old law book if I want those pesky kids to listen to me."

Robbie hurried over to his library and ran his finger through the various textbooks that stood on the shelf. He found one entitled LAZYTOWN: A HISTORY and removed it from its spot. After blowing the dust off, which took a lot of lungpower, Robbie sat down on his fuzzy chair and began flipping through the pages.

He searched for the old laws and regulations to find a sort of loophole that would grant him power. "C'mon, there has to be something in here…"

He flipped all the way back to the first page and decided to take it slow. "Okay…" He sighed. "Let's start over." He then cleared his throat. "LazyTown, founded in 1905 by… Oh, the name's all smudged up. Whatever."

He then noticed something strange next to the founder's name. "What!? Born 1870 and died..." He double-checked to see if what he read was correct. _"…Never!?_" He shook his head from disbelief and checked the back of his text book.

Once again, Robbie found what he read to be mind-boggling. On the very last page, near the bottom left corner, were the words: PUBLISHED 1975.

"What!? 1975!? I was born in 1975!" He thought for a moment. "He's… he's still alive? No, that can't be… but what if it's true?" He grinned again. "Then he might be the only one who can make things right again! To the library!"

¬¬¬¬¬

Inside the library, Robbie sat at one of the computers and looked up all the information he could on LazyTown's founder and discovered something vital. He gasped with joy and read aloud his findings.

"An underground mail system was built in addition to the skyward mail chute located by the mailbox. This subterranean system can be used by sending a letter down the tube located…" His lower lip quivered with fear. "… in the mayor's office in the town hall."

"Shh!" A gray-haired woman commanded Robbie as she stacked books from behind a counter.

Robbie chuckled nervously. "Sorry!" He called out to her.

"Be quiet!" The librarian ordered.

Robbie then grabbed a slip of paper and a pencil then started to write his message:

_HELP!_

_LazyTown is under attack by a hyperactive sports elf and a little pink demon. Not only have they corrupted the youth of our fine town but they have betrayed the principles upon which it was founded. LazyTown is no longer lazy! Your legacy is at stake here! Please hurry!_

_-R.R._

"Now…" Robbie started as he rolled up the piece of paper. "…Time to give the mayor a little visit."

¬¬¬¬¬

Inside the town hall, Mayor Meanswell sat at his desk and dictated a letter to Ms. Busybody, who was sitting across from him. Meanwhile, Robbie glanced inside from the window and tried to figure out a way to get in without being noticed.

"I've got an idea." Robbie said.

Moments later, a man in a blue suit and tie with thick Buddy Holly glasses barged into the office with a briefcase in hand.

The mayor looked at him strangely. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Actually, I was wondering if I can help _you_!" Robbie said through his disguise.

"Help me? How?"

Robbie shook the mayor's and Ms. Busybody's hands with a mischievous smile on his face. "The name's Lyle Kyle and I'm with the FBI."

Bessie gasped. "Milford! You said those downloads were legal!"

"I didn't know!" The mayor panicked.

Robbie laughed. "No, no, no! It's nothing like that! I'm aware that you're up for reelection this year?"

The mayor nodded. "Yes."

"Then it's a good thing I came just in time! You see, you're bound to have someone running against you so I'm here to protect you from spyware!"

Bessie raised an eyebrow. "Spyware?"

"Oh yes. Opponents like to leave bugs around their rival's office to see what kind of plan they're cooking up for the election!"

"But why would the FBI get involved with this?"

Robbie thought for a moment. "Uhh… assassinations! Yeah, that's it… Election season means hunting season for politicians! Have you ever met a politician? Real nasty people! Ugh! Wait, you're a politician!"

Milford's eyes widened. "Why, yes!"

"Then you know what I'm talking about!" Robbie opened the briefcase and took out a fake metal detector. "All right, you two! I'll need you to clear out of the room for a while and let me work my magic!"

Milford wasted no time in getting him and Bessie out of the building. "Oh, dear." He started. "Do you really think someone will try to assassinate me? Or worse! Do you think I'll actually have an opponent!"

"Sure, why not!?" Robbie shoved them out the door.

After locking the door, Robbie removed the phony glasses and loosened his tie as he searched the office for the underground mail chute.

"It has to be here…" He grumbled under his breath. After a few moments of going through the mayor's things, he noticed a strange looking sculpture of a man with a sleepy-eyed gaze. The bust stood on the shelf and for some reason stuck out as odd to Robbie.

"Okay, that's just weird." He said as he walked over to it. Following his instincts, Robbie lifted the head of the bust and revealed a small red button and a small blue button. Upon pressing it, Robbie turned around to see a clear tube slowly lift up from the ground.

"I found it!" He said with joy. Robbie placed the letter inside the tube while uttering the words, "Please be alive, please be alive…" over and over again. Robbie then pressed the blue button and immediately sent the rolled up piece of paper shooting downward to the ground.

The tube slowly returned to the bottom as Robbie lowered the bust's head and walked out the door. "I did it! I actually did it! Soon LazyTown will be lazy again and I can finally have my nap! Yes!"

¬¬¬¬¬

It was now 3:30 and Stephanie and her friends were playing Frisbee with Sportacus out in the courtyard. While they were playing, Stephanie could feel something wrong in the air.

"Stephanie? Are you all right?" Sportacus asked as he tossed her the disc.

As she caught it, Stephanie froze in place and looked around. "Yeah… I think so." She shrugged and hurled the toy over to Trixie.

"What's the matter, Pinky?" Trixie asked. "You're still not mad about that whole hero thing, are ya? Listen, I'm sorry I even said anything."

Stephanie shook her head. "No, it's not that. I just have a weird feeling something's about to happen."

Ziggy smiled. "Ooh! A candy break? I'm up for that!"

Just then, Sportacus' crystal started to go off. Sportacus looked around but couldn't see any signs of trouble. "That's funny. It's never done that before."

Pixel took out one of his scanners and searched the area. "Nothing seems to be wrong according to my computer."

As things couldn't get even weirder, the sunny sky was suddenly overshadowed by a horde of black storm clouds. Everyone in town stopped in their tracks and looked up to see the strange weather activity.

Sportacus' crystal started to beep even louder as its light grew brighter. Pretty soon, the kids all had their hands over their ears to block the sharp noise.

"Doesn't that thing have a volume control!?" Trixie shouted over the noise.

Having no choice, Sportacus temporarily removed the crystal and placed it in his pocket to drown out the noise. After a while, things grew silent as the thunder kicked in.

"We better get back inside before it starts to rain." Stephanie said as a lightning bolt hit the ground in front of her.

"Whoa!" She shrieked as she quickly backed away.

Stingy then noticed something coming from down the road. "Hey, what's that?" He pointed the object out.

After a few moments, a man in a black cloak and hood approached Sportacus and the kids as Milford and Bessie arrived on the scene.

"Who's that?" Trixie asked Sportacus.

"I… I don't know." The hero shrugged.

The mysterious man removed his hood and revealed his face to the residents of LazyTown. He was a fairly young man, early 30s, with blond hair and green eyes and had a somewhat eerie presence that Stephanie could feel within her.

"Hello, LazyTown." The man said. "Daddy's come home."

**_ANOTHER NOTE: Again, I'm REALLY sorry for the delay. I'll have another chapter up soon enough. Provided that document manager doesn't flub up again, of course. Anyway, I updated my personal profile, in case you were wondering. Though I doubt some of you were. Anyway, I think some of you are in for a shock. Please. Don't think less of me. After all, I'm only human... or am I? Hehehee... yes. I am._**


	4. Remus Tard

**Chapter 4**

"W-who are you?" The mayor jittered.

"My name is Remus Tard!" Said the man in the cloak.

Trixie snickered. "Hehehe… _Remus_."

"And who might _you_ be, little lady?" The man leaned down.

"Uhh… my name is--"

"It doesn't matter what your name is!" The man interrupted her. "What matters is that I have returned to LazyTown and I intend to make things right again!"

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with LazyTown!" The mayor continued.

"Really?" The man pointed out to all of the sports equipment the children had with them. "Then why do I see children running around playing and laughing and having all sorts of…" He gagged for a moment. "…_Fun_…"

Sportacus stepped forward. "That's what we do in LazyTown! We play!"

Stephanie then stepped up in his defense. "Yeah! No one's lazy in LazyTown!"

The cloaked man raised his finger in protest. "Blasphemers! You dare violate the sanctity of this once peaceful town!? Who are you?"

Sportacus attempted to give him his name. "My name is Sport--"

"Your name doesn't matter!" Remus interrupted once again. "What matters is my town is in trouble!"

"I don't understand any of this." Said a very confused Bessie. "Who exactly are you, Mr. Tard?"

The blond man was taken aback by her insulting question. "You don't know who I am!? Don't you have history books!? Doesn't my name seem familiar to any of you!?"

All of the adults looked at each other, unfamiliar with the man who stood before them as the kids tried to piece things together themselves.

Finally, Remus grew impatient and blurted out a stunning revelation. "I am the founder of LazyTown!"

At that moment, Robbie stuck his head out from behind a wall and noticed the small gathering in the middle of the courtyard. His eyes widened as he saw the cloaked figure standing before them.

"I did it!" He said to himself. "Boy, that was fast!"

Remus walked along the many wide-eyed residents of the once sleepy town and shook his head in disappointment. "For shame, for shame, for shame..."

He then returned his attention back over to Stephanie, who was standing close to Sportacus and remembered a certain part of the letter he had read. He leaned close to her face and gave her a menacing stare.

"You must be the 'little pink demon' I read about in the letter." He told her.

"Letter? What letter?" Sportacus asked.

Remus ignored him. "Now what's a nice, young girl like you messing up my town for?"

"It's not your town!" She shot back. "It's _our_ town! And if anyone has a say in how to run it, it's my uncle!"

The man scoffed. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"He's the mayor!"

Milford put his hands around the young girl. "Uh, Stephanie, dear. I think maybe you should--"

"_You're_ the mayor!?" Remus laughed.

Milford nodded. "Yes. I'm Mayor Milford Meanswell."

"No wonder the town's all screwed up! An ignoramus like you could never run the town the way I had intended."

Stephanie grew furious. "Hey! You don't talk about my uncle like that!"

Remus shook his head and scoffed some more. "Little girl, I can speak to whoever I want, _how_ever I want. Why? Because I'm the founder!_ My_ town, _my _rules! That's the way it is."

Trixe panicked. "Oh no! He's like a grown-up version of Stingy!"

All of the kids gasped and held on to their belongings firmly. Sportacus crossed his arms and gazed deep into the founder's eyes in an attempt to intimidate him. Unfortunately, the blond man could see right through the charade and began to chuckle maniacally.

"And you must be the hyperactive sports elf, eh?" He continued to laugh. "I suppose you're going to try and stop me, huh?"

Sportacus raised an eyebrow. "If I have to. I will."

"Yeah!" All the kids cheered him on.

Remus walked past Sportacus, practically shoving him aside, and began heading for the streets of LazyTown. He looked around the area, noticing several sports fields and various playgrounds and felt incredibly lost.

"What have they done to you!?" He shouted. "Mayor Meanswell!"

Milford quickly ran up to him. "Yes, Mr. Tard?"

"Why have you let LazyTown become a cesspool of activity and un-laziness!? I demand an answer!"

Milford stammered a bit. "Well, I… the children! They need a positive environment to grow up in! And thanks to Sporta--"

"It doesn't matter who's responsible for the children!" Remus interrupted him. "_You _are responsible for the town and due to your carelessness, everything LazyTown once stood for has been obliterated entirely!"

Bessie then stood up for him. "Now, listen you! Milford Meanswell is the greatest mayor LazyTown has ever had and any decent, law-abiding citizen will agree with me!"

Remus turned around and noticed everyone nodding their heads in approval of Milford much to his disgust. "Really…"

"Yes, really!" Ms. Busybody continued. "He's up for reelection this year and no one will dare oppose him!"

Remus grinned and paced around the mayor. "Well then! I'm afraid you're in for a bit of a shock! You see, I've just discovered that there_ is_ someone running against you!"

The mayor gasped. "Really!? There is!? Oh dear…"

"Yes! In fact, I'd like to nominate him right here and now!"

"Who?"

Remus' grin grew wider. "I nominate… _me_!"

The man in the cloak quickly turned around and revealed a gold medallion placed in his hand. A strange, green light flashed from the medallion's jewel center and shot a beam towards the mayor, freezing him in place.

"Milford!" Cried Bessie.

"Uncle!" Cried Stephanie.

In no time at all, the green beam died out and left Mayor Milford a mere statue of stone, his expression the same as always. Everyone in town gasped and slowly stepped back, afraid of what Remus might do next.

The evil man shed his cloak and hung it up on the statue's extended left arm. Remus, now wearing a simple red and black outfit, walked through the crowd of people and stood on top a nearby bench.

"People of LazyTown!" He began. "I, Remus Tard, am your founder! Your forefather! Your spirit! And now… your mayor!"

Sportacus immediately flipped onto the bench beside Remus and came face to face with the maniac.

"All right, Remus." He said as he placed one hand on one of his tennis rackets. "Change the mayor back and I promise I'll let you get off easy."

Remus shook his head, unafraid of the hero in blue. "I know your kind. The jumpy, athletic, hyperactive hero the people always look up to. And if I'm right, you won't lay a finger on me."

Sportacus started to sweat as the kids looked on with every bit of hope he could save the day as always. But Sportacus knew Remus was right. He couldn't lay a finger on him. It's not what he stood for.

With a regretful sigh, Sportacus backed down and disappointed all of the children as Remus raised his head with pride.

"That's what I thought." He then continued addressing the citizens. "People of LazyTown! I have returned to my beloved city because I have heard your cries of help! I will not rest until everything is back to the way it used to be! Actually, I _might_ rest. After all, this _is _LazyTown!"

"But no one's lazy in LazyTown!" Stephanie pleaded once more.

Remus grew impatient. "Little pink one! What is the name of the town?"

"LazyTown." Stephanie looked down and whispered.

"And what is the first word in LazyTown?"

Stephanie sighed and answered him. "…Lazy."

"Exactly!_ Lazy_!" He snapped at her. "LazyTown must be lazy! Otherwise it's not LazyTown! Understand!? It's simple logic!"

Trixie whined some more. "Oh, now he _really_ sounds like Stingy!"

"Hey!" Stingy griped.

Remus continued. "Don't you worry! All of your prayers will be answered! LazyTown will now return to being lazy as of 1600 hours!"

All of the kids gave Remus a brain-dead stare, trying to figure out what exactly he just said. Finally, Remus sighed and explained it to them.

"That means 4:00, you… you kids! You… little kids, you!"

Stephanie, holding back her tears for her uncle, looked back up to Remus and tried to plead with him some more.

"We didn't ask for this. We were all happy!" She said.

Sportacus stood behind her, unsure of what to do. He couldn't just wail on him in front of everyone. He had no choice but to obey Remus… for now, at least.

Remus glanced over to the young girl and took out Robbie's letter from his pocket. "But it's right here! One of you wrote to me and informed me of the situation! Don't you want to be liberated!? Well… I know _you_ don't. Whoever wrote this warned me about you two."

Stephanie and Sportacus exchanged glances as a pair of clapping hands could be heard from behind the crowd. After a few moments, Robbie walked past the town population and stood next to Remus.

"Now this guy?" He pointed at Remus. "I like him!"


	5. The New Order

**Chapter 5**

It was barely 4:30 in the afternoon and already things were starting to look grim in LazyTown. Remus had finished posting a list of all the new laws and regulations for all the people to look at and memorize by heart. The list was attached to a wooden board built directly beside the mayor, who was still frozen in stone.

"Behold!" The new villain started. "The new rules you will abide by if you want to remain a part of this wonderful town! Obey them and you shall be rewarded! Disobey and…" He chuckled for a bit as he dangled his gold medallion. "… You'll have your own place next to Mr. Meanswell!"

"Oh, you dirty… so and so!" Bessie growled. "You change the mayor back right this instant!"

Remus gave her a dirty stare. "Just try and make me."

At that point, everyone turned to Sportacus in an attempt to convince him into acting justly. He thought for a moment and finally got an idea that might work.

"Are you a man of honor, Remus?" Sportacus asked the man. "I mean, when it comes down to it, can you keep a promise? Under strict circumstances, knowing in your heart the ties that bind you, can you keep a promise?"

"Of course I can! I'm a man of my word!" Remus crossed his arms with a suspicious look on his face. "Why?"

"I offer you a proposal." The hero took out a basketball. "A quick game of one-on-one. Winner takes all."

Remus raised a curious eyebrow. "Far be it for me to take up a non-lazy activity, you _do_ strike an interesting proposal, however. What did you have in mind?"

Sportacus grinned and winked at Stephanie, knowing he had him beat already. "If I win, you change the mayor back and let him run LazyTown the way he always has."

Remus nodded. "Agreed. And if I win, the mayor will remain as my personal trophy and LazyTown will revert back to the way it was." Robbie then stepped up to the man and whispered something into his ear.

"Oh and you must leave town and never return." Remus added.

Stephanie and the others gave Robbie an objectionable look and shook their heads in disappointment as he chuckled nervously and shrugged.

"Can you blame me?" He grinned.

"Do we have a deal?" Remus asked as he extended his hand over to Sportacus.

Sportacus wasted no time and immediately shook the man's hand. "Deal."

"I should warn you, sir!" Robbie interjected. "This guy's good! After all, that's why they call him Sport--"

"His name doesn't matter!" Remus snapped. "I will defeat him with ease!"

Everyone followed Sportacus and this strange, new villain over to the basketball court as Pixel acted as the referee.

He set a timer on his wristband and explained the rules to the players. "The one to score the most points under five minutes, wins the game."

After sending the ball into the air, the game was underway. Sportacus quickly took to the ball and dribbled down the court as everyone cheered him on. After slam-dunking, a point was added to Sportacus' side of the board.

Remus growled under his breath. "Showoff…"

Robbie was seen standing away from the others, waving a banner with Remus' face on it. "Yay! Go Mr. Tard! Win! Win! Win!"

"Silence, Rotten!" Tard snapped as he dribbled the ball.

"Oh, yes sir!" Robbie calmed down.

"Go Sportacus!" Stephanie cheered as she saw the hero steal the ball away from Remus and score a 3-pointer.

Remus was now starting to breathe heavily, knowing that time was running out and the odds were against him. Still, he went in and attempted to see this whole ordeal through.

"Sportacus has got him on the run!" Trixe jumped with excitement.

As the game continued, Robbie noticed something wasn't quite right. He felt a strange void on his person and decided to check his pockets for anything that might be missing. It was at that moment, when Remus pulled out Robbie's Lazy Ray and blasted Sportacus from behind. Sportacus stopped dribbling the ball and held it loosely as Remus took it away from him with ease.

"I'll take that, thank you." He smirked as he turned around and shot the ball into his own basket, finally giving him some points on the board.

Pixel checked the ball and tossed it back to Sportacus, who missed it entirely and began to look around the area in a daze. Remus took this opportunity to take the ball away and make up for the points he lacked while all of the residents watched in pure perplexity.

"Sportacus?" Stephanie asked with a concerned voice. "Are you okay?"

The hero in blue simply yawned and leaned against the basketball pole while Remus continued to score. The clock was now on the one minute mark and everyone soon began to panic. Sportacus, however, didn't seem so concerned as he scratched his belly and yawned some more.

"Sportacus, why aren't you doing anything!?" Stephanie called out to him.

"Oh, hi Stephanie!" Sportacus waved at the girl.

Pixel checked the timer. "Less than a minute, Sportacus!"

"Pixel! How's it going, man? Hey, you wanna play some video games?"

"Sportacus is losing!" Ziggy said as he hid behind his lollipop. "Oh, I can't watch!"

After one more shot, the buzzer went off. Remus was declared the winner much to Pixel's horror. As everyone groaned from disappointment, Sportacus giggled like a child and waved at the villain as he approached him.

"Oh, well." Remus grinned. "Nice try."

Sportacus simply gave the man a thumbs-up. "Sure! No problem!" He then paused. "What are we talking about?"

The evil founder turned his attention back to the residents of LazyTown and pointed at the fallen hero, who was now lying on the ground with his back to the pole.

"Behold! Your savior! The mighty… uhh…" Remus tried to think of the hero's name.

Stephanie butted in. "His name is Sporta--"

"It doesn't matter!" Remus interrupted yet again. "What matters is that he has fallen before me and lost! As a man of honor, I am bound to keep my word! LazyTown is lazy once more!"

Everyone gasped as Stephanie stepped forward. "You're not going to get away with this!"

"Little lady, I already have." The blond man pointed at the list and read the laws aloud to the people. "Law #1: Everyone must be lazy! Hence the name of the town! LazyTown! Understand!? Law #2: No one is to perform any un-lazy acts unless approved by the council of LazyTown. And out here, _I_ am the council! What you saw just now between me and the blue monkey, was a necessary and _legal_ act of un-laziness!"

"I wonder what's on TV…" Sportacus mumbled to himself through a short nap.

Remus then handed out a pamphlet to everyone, which contained the same list of rules on the board. "Read and memorize these rules. Your future in this town depends on it."

"You can't force all of us!" Stephanie crossed her arms as everyone in town nodded and backed the young girl up.

"Perhaps not." Remus scowled. "Mr. Rotten, will you accompany me please?"

"Uh… okay." Robbie shrugged as he followed Remus behind.

As the two left, Pixel noticed something strange on his wristband and approached his friends. "You guys! Look at this!"

"Oh, Pixel!" Trixie rolled her eyes. "We have bigger things to worry about than your stupid computer!"

"No, but look!" He showed them a strange pattern moving up and down on the console's monitor.

"What does it mean, Pixel?" Stephanie asked.

"When Sportacus and Remus were playing, my scanners picked up this weird energy surge the moment Sportacus started to act funny."

Stingy shrugged. "Yeah? So?"

Pixel sighed. "So, that means someone or something is responsible for making Sportacus… _lazy_."

"But how?" Stephanie asked again.

"I don't know. An energy surge this big could have only come from another device of some sort. And I have a very bad feeling we're about to be its next targets."

Stephanie gulped. "You mean all of LazyTown?"

Pixel nodded with a gloomy stare. "Yup."

At that moment, Zigggy started to panic and take several licks of his lollipop. "Oh no! What do we do!? What do we do!?"

Pixel closed the top of his monitor and looked over to Sportacus, who remained snoring against the pole. He shook his head then turned his attention back over to his friends.

"I say we take Sportacus and head back to my place for cover." The gizmo guy suggested.

"Why your place?" Trixie asked.

"The satellite up on the roof will protect us! Now come on!"

¬¬¬¬¬

Robbie followed the evil founder and started to jitter when he noticed him pulling out the magic medallion. They stopped in front of the town hall, where Remus held the golden disc firmly against the wall of the building.

"Robert!" He said. "I think it's time we relocated the mayor's office, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir! Absolutely!" Robbie sucked-up to the man.

The medallion then started to glow its eerie green color again as the ground beneath them trembled. Everyone in LazyTown either stood in place or headed back into their homes for shelter as a giant pillar shot up from the ground and raised the town hall towards the sky.

After the shaking had ended, Robbie noticed he was clinging onto Remus' pant leg and let go immediately. The two men looked down on the town and had mixed emotions. Remus stood tall and mighty proud of himself while Robbie practically quivered with fear. After all, the man _was _afraid of heights.

"Uh… Sir? D-does it h-have to b-be this high up?" Robbie stuttered.

"Well, I could make it go higher." Remus suggested as he held out the medallion again.

"No! That's, uhh… that's okay! This is high enough."

Remus shrugged and placed the medallion back under his shirt. "Very well."

"Sir?" Robbie gulped. "Did you take my Lazy Ray and use it on… y'know._ Him_?"

Remus smiled and nodded. "I did. And now, this town will suffer for its disrespect of old traditions."

The founder took out the Lazy Ray and activated it to the highest setting then stuck the spiral into the center of the gold medallion. Holding both arms out with the devices connected, Remus called out to the people of LazyTown once more.

"People of LazyTown! I am here to reeducate you in the ways of old! Let the learning process begin!"

¬¬¬¬¬

"Activating shields!" Pixel called out as he flipped a switch on his computer.

In no time at all, an invisible beam of energy bubbled itself over Pixel's home as Remus' magic worked its way throughout the town. Combined with Robbie's Lazy Ray, the people of LazyTown became sluggish, slovenly and flat out lazy.

Stephanie, Pixel, Trixie, Ziggy and Stingy all watched in horror as their town became overruled by its corrupted founder. Sportacus, on the other hand, was unconcerned as he sat on the couch and played video games like any child would.

"This is bad!" Ziggy started to cry again. "What are we going to do, you guys!?"

Pixel went over a few readings on his desktop and shook his head. "According to this, with the exception of us, all of LazyTown is under a lazy spell."

"A lazy spell?" Stephanie couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It gets worse. At this rate, LazyTown's energy meter will run dry by the end of this weekend and there'll be no hope of restoring order to this town ever again!"

"Actually…" Stephanie started to think. "There might be a way to set things right."

Everyone gave each other a skeptical look as Stephanie paced around the room, trying to remember what it was her uncle told her about.

"What is it, Stephanie?" Trixie asked.

"Pixel, I need you to look something up for me on the computer. Look up… The Trinity."


	6. Beam me up Scotty!

**Chapter 6**

Pixel quickly ran a search on his computer and came across a map of LazyTown, which looked exactly how it did in the mayor's book. The points _CT_, _LT _and _HT_ were now spelled out as the town they represented.

"That's us right there!" Stephanie pointed at point _LT_. "LazyTown."

"This is the Trinity?" Pixel asked.

Stephanie nodded as she ran her finger along the trail. "Yeah. And this must be the crossroads that leads to the other two towns." She read aloud points _CT_ and _HT_. "CrazyTown… and HazyTown."

"But the trail heading into HazyTown is blocked off!" Ziggy pointed out.

"The wall." Stephanie examined the map some more then pointed out a loophole. "Right there."

Pixel leaned in closer to the screen. "The Yawn River?"

"Uh-huh. If I go straight into CrazyTown, get what I need and cross the Yawn River, I should be in HazyTown in no time." 

Trixie raised an eyebrow. "I thought the Trinity was just a story the adults made up to scare us."

"How would that scare us?" Stephanie asked.

"Think about it, Steph. A broken road. A giant wall. Any of this seem out of the ordinary?"

The pink haired girl thought for a moment but shrugged it off. "Maybe but it's our only hope." 

"But how?" Asked Ziggy.

"Uncle Milford told me each town carries a magic crystal that can help one another out during a time of crisis. If I get those other two crystals and unite them with ours, Remus' spell will be broken!"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Trixie scratched her head. "Just one problem, Pinky! Where's _our_ crystal!?"

"Oh, yeah…" Stephanie looked down and sighed. "I guess… you're going to have to look for it."

"What!?" Everyone shouted.

Stingy shook his head. "No way! I don't want Remus to turn me into stone!"

"Just act lazy, Stingy!" Stephanie suggested.

"You _want_ me to turn to stone, don't you!?"

Pixel thought it best to step in before a fight broke out. "All right, guys! Chill! Now look, Stephanie… how sure are you that these crystals even exist?"

"Pretty sure." She said, almost doubting it herself.

"Okay. Ziggy, Trixie and Stingy will stay behind to find the crystal while me and you--"

"I'm going alone." She blurted out.

Trixie's eyes widened. "What do you mean you're going alone?"

"It's something I have to do." 

"Oh, you're still not upset what I said earlier, are you!? I was only kidding, Steph! I didn't mean it!"

"Look, if more than one of us turns out missing…"

"Robbie will find out and report it back to Remus." Pixel finished her sentence. "You're right. She has to do this alone. No one else knows more about the Trinity than she does."

"Well, how are you going to get to CrazyTown if the road is all broken up?" Ziggy asked.

"Broken up for a _vehicle_, maybe. I'll be heading on foot. There's no danger there, Ziggy." She said with a reassuring smile.

Pixel turned back to his computer and ran a few diagnostics. "According to this, it'll take more than 4 hours just to get to the crossroads by foot. And from there, CrazyTown is about an hour's walk away. Put it together, you've got yourself a five hour trek and that's only if you leave _now_."

"That's not good." Stephanie shook her head.

"But…" Pixel continued as he ran his fingers through his keyboard. "I have an idea."

"I thought you might."

A spread of blueprints appeared on the computer screen as Pixel continued typing in his various calculations into the machine.

"What is that?" Stingy asked, almost drooling at the mouth.

"It's something I've been working on these past few weeks." Pixel explained. "It's a matter transporter."

"Can I have it?"

"No."

"Matter transporter!?" Trixie rolled her eyes. "What is this, Star Trek?" 

"Yeah, you wish." Stephanie said with a wink.

A few more thorough images of the blueprints clearly explained the machine's contents as Pixel led them through. "You see, I pinpoint the exact location you want to go in LazyTown and the transporter will take you there. The only problem is that it has a range of areas located _only_ in LazyTown."

"Meaning what exactly?"

Pixel turned back over to Stephanie. "It means that the crossroads is far as I can take you. From there, you're on your own."

"Well…" Stephanie said with a sigh. "At least I'll save four hours."

Pixel nodded with a smile. "Let's get you packing."

ʪʪʪʪʪ

Below in his lair, Robbie retracted the periscope with a frustrated growl. "Oh, those kids! I knew they'd be up to something! I'd better go tell Remus!"

"Tell me what?" The man asked as he snuck up behind Robbie.

"Aah!" Robbie shrieked then took a few moments to catch his breath.

Remus giggled then pointed. "I remember playing that trick when I was a young lad."

At that moment, Robbie suddenly realized something he had neglected before. "Y'know, it's funny you should mention that."

"Yes?"

Robbie chuckled nervously. "You're, uhh… you're pretty young… _looking_. For a man your age, that is!"

Remus bowed humbly. "Why, thank you."

"You want to tell me how you did that?" He stammered for a bit. "S-staying young that is…"

"Simple. Magic." He stroked the medallion tucked beneath his vest and started to laugh.

Robbie laughed along and paused for a moment. "Sure, magic. Yeah… it's just… you know… I thought you'd be dead by now or something." 

"Oh, I wasn't dead. I was just resting!"

Completely forgetting about the kids, Robbie yawned and started for his chair. "Well, if you'll excuse me! I think I'll just have myself a nap! Make yourself at home! Food's in the fridge! Have fun! Enjoy!"

Remus stopped the man in his tracks with a gut-busting laugh. "Oh, Robert! You are _such_ a clown! Ha-ha!"

Robbie didn't know why he was laughing but decided to laugh along with him some more. "Yeah, I… I guess I am."

Remus shook his head. "No, Robert. I need you to keep an eye on this town while I perform my first act as mayor.

"And that is?"

The man in black seated himself in Robbie's fuzzy chair and tucked himself in with a blanket. "I'm gonna take _my_ nap! Now be a nice servant and obey me!"

"Servant!?" Robbie was taken aback. "_Nap_!?"

ʪʪʪʪʪ

Down in Pixel's basement, everyone surrounded a large metallic booth as the gizmo guy himself punched in a few keys on his computer.

"Here you go, Seph…" Trixie said as she helped pack a few things in her friend's bag.

"Do I really need a soccer ball? Or a Frisbee? Or a…" Stephanie pulled out a brick of some sticky red substance. "… block of Taffy?"

"Hey, you never know!" Ziggy said with his arms crossed.

"Okay, do you have everything?" Pixel approached her with a checklist.

Stephanie double checked the contents of her bag. "I think so."

Pixel quickly read through the items. "Food supply?"

Stephanie nodded. "Check."

"Canteen?"

"Check."

"Flashlight?"

"Check."

Pixel jotted a few notes on the clipboard and gave Stephanie the thumbs up. "All right. Let's get you going."

Trixie quickly ran up and gave Stephanie a tight hug. "Be careful, girl."

She smiled and hugged her back. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

As Stephanie walked inside the booth, Pixel typed in the coordinates and switched the machine on.

"Good luck, Stephanie."

"Thanks." She waved at her friends. "Now beam me up, Scotty!" 

With a chuckle, Pixel pressed a red button and watched as his friend dematerialized into small particles of light. After the process was done, Ziggy, Trixie, Pixel and Stingy exhaled with the hope that Stephanie would be successful in her mission.

"So what now?" Stingy asked.

"Now?" Pixel pressed a few keys on his wristband. "We find our crystal."

"What do we do with Sportacus?" Trixie asked as she pointed upstairs. "He's still up there sitting on his butt and playing video games."

"Believe me, it's better that way. The less he stays away from Remus, the safer he'll be."

ʪʪʪʪʪ

As Remus snored away on Robbie's couch, the resident villain strolled along the lazy streets of a once active town. He could see several people standing around in a daze, unaware of their surroundings as others were littered across the ground, snoring and drooling incessantly.

"It's not fair!" He barked. "Everyone gets to take a nap but me! Oh, what was I thinking!? Now I'll _never_ get back to sleep! If only there was a way to…"

Robbie then had a very disturbing thought run through his mind, which sent chills down his spine. He gagged and shook his head, trying to ignore it.

"No, no! That's impossible!" He paused for a moment then realized he had no choice. "Oh, no… I… I have to… help the pink one!" He then fell to his knees and let out a sob. "If I'm ever to have a peaceful nap… I _must_ help her! It's the only way!"

Another pause allowed Robbie to consider the repercussions of his actions. "But I can't let her or Remus know my intentions without the possibility of turning into stone…"

Robbie then grinned his evil grin once more and pointed his finger into the air with a thunderous cry. "It's disguise time!"


	7. The Journey Begins

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have something to say about the difference between American and European cities. But I've forgotten what it is. I have it written down at home though. Oh well. Will you settle for another chapter?**_

**Chapter 7**

It was now 5:15 in LazyTown as Remus pompously strutted along the streets while whistling and twirling his medallion around. Everyone was now back in their homes, sitting on the couch, watching TV or possibly back asleep somewhere other than the sidewalks.

The sun was still out but anyone could see that it was slowly starting to dim as the hours passed. Remus nodded approvingly of the city's vacant parks, playgrounds and courtyards and sighed with content.

"Remus, old boy…" He said to himself. "You're back on top!"

The evil founder returned to the center of LazyTown, where Milford's stone body remained in place. He giggled slowly and evilly as he stroked the smooth, rocky surface of the former mayor's bald head.

"Do you see now, Milford? This is how LazyTown is _supposed_ to be. No playing. No laughing about. No having fun while others are trying to live their normal, lazy lives." He shot him a disturbing glare. "You failed to uphold the principles I had established all those years ago and now you're paying the price for it. In two days, LazyTown's energy meter will be completely worn out and everyone will remain in their lazy spell for good!"

With that said, the new villain headed back to the mountaintop where the mayor's office was and continued to laugh maniacally. Then Mayor Meanswell, despite the blatant fact of being a statue, managed to shed a single tear from the corner of his right eye.

♠♠♠♠♠

In Pixel's house, Ziggy and Stingy were engaged in a tug-of-war with Sportacus as they fought over a can of whipped cream. The now lazy hero stumbled upon it in the fridge earlier and was immediately taken by its cool, frothy texture and light sugary taste. Unfortunately for the kids, however, it meant that Sportacus was back to his hyperactive old self but for all the wrong reasons and in all the wrong ways.

The jumpy blue elf started to run along the halls, tagging the walls with the whipped topping while dodging all the kids' attempts to bring him down. After he practically inhaled an entire mouthful, Ziggy and Stingy managed to grab hold of the can's end and thus began the tug-of-war.

"Hey! Let it go!" The hero whined.

"No! You're hyper! And not the good kind!" Ziggy strained.

Sportacus pulled back with all his might and sent the two children flying back into Pixel's room, where he and Trixie were going over a few layouts of the town.

"So what are we looking at?" Trixie scratched her head.

"I'm trying to look for a possible location of where the LazyTown crystal might be." Pixel answered as he ran his fingers along the keys.

The monitored then bleeped as it displayed directions to the LazyTown museum, which Pixel then ran a full search for. After a few moments, Trixie and Pixel read the screen and looked at each other with a glimpse of hope.

"The crystal exhibit?" An optimistic Trixie asked.

"Sounds right to me!" Pixel smiled.

Sportacus then jumped on the boy's bed and started to hop up and down while smearing whipped cream all over the ceiling. Stingy and Ziggy, too exhausted from trying to keep up with him, shrugged and fell on the bed as it moved with every jump.

"Just forget it." Stingy said. "He'll wear himself out eventually."

♠♠♠♠♠

Stephanie arrived at the crossroads outside town as the light particles dissolved and left her unharmed and in one piece. She stood in the middle of the fork and looked up at the signs that pointed towards her two destinations. To her left was the road to HazyTown, unscathed and intact. However, the end of the road was cut off by an enormous wall of black brick that seemed to angulate the entire town.

"Well, I can't go _there_…" She said as she looked to her right.

The road to CrazyTown was severely damaged with the pavement scarred and chunks of rock and dirt littered throughout. The pink-haired girl shrugged and started her journey down the road to CrazyTown.

"I hope they find that other crystal."

♠♠♠♠♠

Inside the black tower that stood above all of LazyTown, Remus leaned back in the mayor's seat as Bessie stood beside him with an aggravated look on her face.

"Ms. Buggy-bumper!" He snapped his fingers.

"Busybody!" The woman growled.

"Whatever! Take a note!"

Bessie groaned and took out a pen and notepad from Milford's desk as she awaited Remus' instructions. Remus got out of the chair and crept around the office, making several hand gestures with almost every word he spoke.

"To the people of LazyTown! I hereby declare today to be Lazy Day! Let no rejoicing commence on the streets and no music be played in celebration! That is all!" He chuckled for a bit then turned back to his new assistant. "Okay, read that back to me."

"LazyTown. Lazy. Yay." The woman read in a dull, monotone voice.

"Yes!" Remus leaped with joy. "Perfect!"

After hearing a low blip, Remus quickly turned his head to see the town's energy meter slowly waning down to 40 percent. He could see the bar struggling to elevate, which caused the man to briefly panic.

"Oh no!" He yelped. "I almost helped it along!"

A long pause went by and Remus still noticed the bar struggling through the 40 percent marker. The founder scratched his head for a moment then turned to a confused Busybody.

"Why is it still struggling to go up when it should be going down?" He asked her.

"I… I don't know!" Bessie futilely awaited his wrath.

"Either that thing's broken or…" His gaze sharpened. "Someone's not being lazy enough. Or perhaps… they're not being lazy at all."

Remus then stepped out of the office and walked along the rocky cliff of the black tower. He held out his magic amulet once more and unleashed three bolts of hex energy which descended upon the town. From those three bolts, a trio of green-hooded beings with faces made of rock and clay came into fruition. After viewing their surroundings, they looked up at their master and awaited his command.

"My children!" Remus called out to them. "Find anyone who isn't acting properly and bring them to me! The last thing we need is a monkey wrench thrown in our beautiful operation!"

The hooded creatures bowed and set off to find the corrupters of Remus' vision as the visionary himself sat back down on the chair.

"Betty!" He snapped his fingers.

"Bessie!" She almost screamed.

"Whatever! Make me a sandwich!"

♠♠♠♠♠

It was now 5:45 and the sun was still hanging loose with only another half hour until sunset. Stephanie walked down the broken road at a smooth and steady pace, still avoiding any dangerous articles of loose pavement. She then came across another fork in the road much to her horror.

"Oh great…" Stephanie mumbled as she took out the map from her pink bag. "Okay, let's see… uh-oh. Wait a minute…"

Stephanie kept eyeballing the map but couldn't find any trace of a second fork in the road. She squinted down the left side as far as possible but couldn't spot any sign or turn signal then redirected her attention to the map.

"I'm lost… I don't know where to go… I don't…"

Just then, a man in red spandex and a dirty old cowboy hat crashed into the ground and moved his body around as if in a struggle. The man flipped on his back and appeared to be wrestling with something.

"Hi there, little one!" The man greeted Stephanie. "I couldn't help overhear your situation. Maybe I can help ya out!"

Stephanie stepped back, a bit disturbed. "Who are you?"

"The name's Dusty! Dusty the Wind Wrestler!"

"Wind Wrestler?"

"Why sure!? Aintcha never heard o' wind rasslin'!?"

Stephanie shook her head while the wrestler grappled with a chunk of nothingness again and continued struggling with it.

"Anyway, what's yer problem?"

"Uhh… well, you see… I'm trying to get to CrazyTown but my map doesn't say anything about a 2nd crossroads." Stephanie continued gazing at the wrestler. "Do you know the way?"

The man flipped over to his side and caught a handful of air in a headlock and looked up at the pink one. "Sure! I know where it is!"

"Uhh… yeah?"

The man in the hat rolled on his stomach as if pulling the air by its "nose" and pointed across the right side of the road.

"CrazyTown's just a few clicks down that road! If you get to Ol' Bertha, you'll know yer in the right place!"

"Ol' Bertha?" Stephanie raised an eyebrow then shrugged. "Well, okay. Thanks, mister!"

"No problem! Tell 'em Dusty sent ya!"

As Stephanie hurried down the road, the wind wrestler ceased his foolish activity then stood back up on his feet. The man then pulled off his fuzzy mustache and hat, revealing Robbie Rotten behind the masquerade.

"Okay, kid." He grinned. "You're on your own for now. But I'll catch up with you soon."


	8. Welcome To CrazyTown

**Chapter 8**

Stephanie could see that the more she advanced down the road, the less damage there was to be found. The pavement was getting smoother and smoother with every step and this brought a feeling of hope to the young girl.

"Almost there…" She said with a grin as she continued her trek.

After a few minutes, Stephanie stumbled upon a field of what appeared to be free range chickens. There were only eight that were visually countable but for all she knew there could have been more. Stephanie paused and looked around for any signs of _human_ life.

"Okay, this is just creepy." She shuddered. "If I want to get to CrazyTown, I have to go through these chickens…"

With a shrug and a sigh, Stephanie slowly walked along the dirty ground and carefully avoided any contact with the poultry as to not disturb their constant pecking. She smiled nervously as she stepped over a nearby chick. For the rest of the chickens, seeing girl fully detailed in pink roam amongst them was something out of the unusual. They all stared and watched her pass by with those bulging black eyes of theirs. Stephanie noticed them staring at her but tried not to panic.

"Nice chicken… good chicken…" She said. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Upon reaching the end of the field, Stephanie wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and sighed from relief as she walked towards a nearby set of bushes. Then, from that exact same set, an even larger flock of chickens popped out and clucked simultaneously as they then pecked towards the girl in pink.

"Evil chickens!?" She gulped. "Okay, I don't like that!"

Summoning all of her courage, Stephanie closed her eyes and charged forward in an attempt to advance towards the town and leave the menacing poultry behind. She screamed and hollered as she ran along the road, moving spastically as if she was still being attacked by the avian creatures.

"Eww! Chickens!" She violently swung her arms around. "Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me! Eww! Gross!"

The screaming and running was interrupted, however, as Stephanie knocked into an object as hard as steel. The impact caused Stephanie to fall on her back and bump her head slightly. After a few moments, Stephanie slowly opened her eyes and looked up to find a gigantic solid gold chicken glaring down on her.

"Oh, not another one…" The young girl groaned before she passed out again.

♠♠♠♠♠

Inside the LazyTown museum, Pixel and Trixie were busy searching for the town's magic crystal while Ziggy and Stingy remained watching over Sportacus.

"You realize that if we do find the crystal and manage to steal it, we'll be breaking several laws plus the laws Remus added to his regime, right?" Trixie asked as she moved her flashlight along a shelf of artifacts.

"Yeah, I know." Pixel grinned as he scanned the area with his wrist computer. "But believe me it'll all be worth it once we get this guy out of town and Stephanie's uncle gets his position as mayor back." 

"Amen to that, brother."

Unbeknownst to them, Remus' hooded rock creatures lurked in the shadows of the museum and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

"That's funny." Pixel said as the screen on his computer showed 3 blinking red dots. "I'm detecting 3 sources of energy that seem to be mineral-based."

"Really?" Trixie looked around. "Where?"

Pixel pointed out to a glass case that held a set of shiny, crystallized rocks with different shapes, sizes and colors.

Trixie leaned in and raised an eyebrow. "And you think one of these is the crystal?" 

"It's possible." Pixel then pressed a few buttons on the keypad. "Computer, generate demolition utensils."

In a matter of seconds, the computer materialized two full sledgehammers into Pixel's and Trixie's hands.

Trixie chuckled and gave Pixel a funny look. "Demolition utensils?"

He shrugged. "Hey, I'm a computer whiz. What'd you expect?"

"Okay, so which one do we get?"

"Well once we break the glass, the alarms will be sounding off so there won't be any time to flip through 'em for a proper reading."

"So you mean we take 'em all?"

"Yup."

The rock creatures slowly appeared from the shadows and snuck behind the two, attempting to get the drop on them. Pixel and Trixie, however, continued talking with no knowledge of their presence.

"Don't you think the sledgehammers are a bit much, though?" Trixe asked.

"You're right. I should have stuck with the golf clubs." The boy nodded. "But I guess we could use them for smashing things other than glass." 

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Pixel thought for a moment as the creatures grew closer. "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe a hood ornament?"

Trixie got excited. "Yeah! Or a window!"

"Or maybe a group of rock creatures who think they've got the drop on us?"

"Hey, that'll work!"

They quickly turned around and smashed their hammers against the creatures' heads, smashing them to bits. As the beheaded figures wobbled around the museum, Trixie and Pixel broke through the glass case and packed as many of the rocks as possible. With the alarm now sounding off, the two realized they had very little time to dawdle and dashed towards the exit.

"That was a good one, Pixel!" Trixie said as they ran out of the building. "How did you know they were sneaking up on us!?"

"Those energy readings were way too high to come from just those rocks!" He explained. "I knew something was up the moment we stepped foot in that place!"

♠♠♠♠♠

After what seemed like hours, Stephanie finally awoke and found several unfamiliar faces giving her a concerned look. She jumped off the bed she was lying on and backed away from the small group of people.

"Whoa! Easy, young'n!" A middle-aged rotund woman said in a Southern drawl. "Ain't no one gon' hurt ya!"

"Yeah, 'specially since you done did that yerself!" An older looking man said as he pointed out Stephanie's small bump on her head.

"What?" Stephanie placed her hand against the bump and groaned from the pain. "Oh, man… how did that happen?"

"Ya ran into Ol' Bertha!" The old man continued.

"Ol' Bertha?" Stephanie looked out the window and recognized the giant gold chicken standing in the middle of the town. "Wait a minute… where am I?"

The round woman chuckled as she put her arm around the young girl. "Shoot! Yer in CrazyTown, hun!"

"CrazyTown!" Stephanie's face lit up. "I made it! Dusty was right!"

"Dusty?" One of the locals said. "Who's Dusty?" 

"I met him along the way. He said he was a wind wrestler and he told me how to get here."

"Wind rassler?" Another local, a younger looking woman, scratched her head. "Honey, I ain't never heard o' no wind rassler named Dusty before."

"Really?" Stephanie rubbed her bump. "I swear I ran into him. He seemed so real."

Just then, a young boy walked up to Stephanie and handed her a glass of water. "Here you go, miss."

"Oh, thanks." Stephanie said as she took a drink.

"Now what's a lil'gal like you doin' here in CrazyTown all by yerself?" The round woman asked.

"I'm looking for the town crystal. I need it to help save my home from an evil tyrant."

"Home? Where ya from?" 

"LazyTown."

The old man gasped, knocking his teeth out in the process. "LazyTown!?"

The woman smacked him over the head as she bent over to pick up the teeth. "Consarn it, Japser! You done dropped yer teeth again!"

The old man placed his teeth back in and moved his jaw around to adjust them. "Ain't no reason to smack me!"

Stephanie shuddered at the sight. "Eww…"

"You got a name, hun?" Asked the younger woman.

"I'm Stephanie."

"My name's Alice." She then pointed to the other young man. "That there's my husband Louie."

"Hi there." Louie waved.

The round woman then introduced herself. "Folks call me Ma and this old fool with the dancin' teeth is Jasper."

"Hello." Stephanie smiled then noticed the young boy shyly standing next to her. "And you are?" 

"Oh, I'm…" The boy backed away with a bashful grin. "…Michael."

Just then, a man dressed in skintight black clothing walked in the room with an overdramatic hand posed over his head. 

"Oh, the pain!" He wailed in a theatrical British tone. "The life that has been bestowed upon me has been nothing but gut-wrenching, dream shattering, bone crunching _pain_!"

Stephanie gave the man a strange look and tugged on Ma's arm. "And who's that?" 

"Huh?" She noticed the man in black prancing around like a hopeless fool. "Oh him. That's Dramatik."

"The gods looked down and cursed me with everlasting life! Oh the horror!" He wailed some more. "The horror!"

As the man in black raised a coffee cup and composed a poem from the top of his head, Jasper's teeth fell out once again and caused Ma, Louie and Alice to scatter around the place in search of them. Michael glanced at Stephanie some more and started to giggle, continuing to pull his head away from her view. All of this was happening and Stephanie knew she was in the right place.

"Yup." She nodded. "I'm in CrazyTown alright."


	9. Charred Chili Chutney Chicken

**Chapter 9**

Inside the black tower, Remus shook his head disappointingly as his rock creatures crawled along the floor without any sense of direction.

"Beheaded, I see." He looked over to Bessie. "Isn't that the strangest thing you've ever seen?"

The woman shrugged. "What? The rock thingies or the fact that they don't have heads?" She then looked around the office. "Or maybe the fact that you raised the town hall with this black tower of yours and put everyone under a lazy spell?"

Remus growled. "Forget I said anything."

With a quick flick of his amulet, a magic beam disintegrated the rock figures then spawned forth a small army of them. They all stood with their heads high and pulled their green hoods over their faces and awaited their master's command.

"LazyTown is at the brink of becoming lazy again!" He told them then pointed at the energy meter, which was now at 38 percent. "Yet someone out there refuses to acknowledge the beauty of old traditions and constantly defies me. Your job is to keep watch over the town and bring back anyone who displays acts of un-laziness. Understood?"

The sculptures all slammed a fist against their chests as a sort of salute then bowed before Remus. They then marched down the steps of the tower, creating loud booming noises with each stomp.

Remus waved at his creations and looked over to Bessie with a proud look on his face. "It's amazing all that I've accomplished in just a day."

Bessie scoffed and shook her head. "Yes… amazing…" She dryly said.

"I shall have to commend Robert for informing me of the situation. And once we get things back on track, I'll personally see to it that—wait a minute!" He suddenly remembered. "Where _is_ Rotten!?"

♠♠♠♠♠

Ziggy, Stingy, Trixie and Pixel all huddled around the bed, running their hands across all the various rocks that laid there. Using one of his scanners, Pixel tried to identify a positive energy reading from them but to no avail.

"I'm not picking up anything." Pixel panicked. "There's no energy readings, no crystallization shift, no flux capacity, no nothing!"

"Hey, what about _this_ one!?" Ziggy held out a small purple gem.

"That's a piece of rock candy, Ziggy!" Trixie rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah!" The blond boy giggled as he bit through it. "I wondered why it smelled like grape!"

While they were rummaging, Stingy found the shiny objects too precious for him to ignore and tucked several under his shirt and in his pockets.

"These are mine…" He said to himself. "My own… My…"

"Precious?" Ziggy blurted out.

"No, don't be silly!"

"No!" Pixel groaned as he leaned back against the headboard of the bed. "I thought for sure we'd find them there!"

"We have to keep trying, Pixel!" Trixie pleaded. "LazyTown is at stake here!"

"Steak!" Sportacus shouted as he leaped in the room. "Where!? Cow!"

Ziggy and Stingy shook their heads and groaned alongside Pixel as the hero in blue looked out the window like a dog in waiting.

"Oh, and we had _just_ put him to sleep!" Stingy whined.

Sportacus jumped on the bed and started to hop up and down, tossing the various crystals around much to the kids' dismay.

"Sportacus!" They all griped.

"Pixel…" Ziggy started. "We need another plan. Do you know where else we can find a crystal?"

Pixel stroked his chin and thought for a moment. "I suppose we could look in the Lazy Fountains."

"Lazy Fountains?" Trixie asked. "The one near the park?"

Pixel nodded. "Yeah."

"But Pixel…" Ziggy interrupted. "Why would we look there?" 

"Because every night when the sun goes down, the fountain starts to glow. Now how do you suppose that happens?"

"Waterproof lights. Duh!" Trixie smirked.

"Yeah, that's one thing. But what do you suppose causes the light to spread throughout the fountain and not just shine over the top?"

After a long pause, Trixie, Stingy and Ziggy shouted in unison, "Crystals!"

Pixel nodded with an optimistic grin. "All right, guys. We've got another half hour until sunset. Once it gets dark enough, we'll sneak out to the fountain and start digging for that crystal."

Ziggy's eyes then widened. "But what about those rock things you told us about? Won't they be on the lookout for us?"

Stingy gasped. "Hey! He's right!"

"Nothing's gonna happen." Pixel reassured them. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing!"

♠♠♠♠♠

Stephanie stepped out of Ma's Hotel and walked along the boardwalk which led to various other places of CrazyTown. The whole place looked like an old Western complete with a dirt ground and wooden signs at every corner.

The young girl then approached the giant gold chicken standing tall and proud in the middle of the town and ran her hand along its smooth belly. She then noticed the plaque on the bottom and leaned in for a closer look.

"Ol' Bertha…" She read aloud. "…Bred in captivity - 1956, fed in captivity - 1957. One year, huh? That's some chicken."

"She was the best!" Jasper startled the young girl. "I remember pluckin' her myself an' everything! Whoo, lordy! That was some good eatin', I tell ya what!"

"What made her so special?"

"The eggs!" He gestured widely with his arms. "Big as horses but tasted better!"

Stephanie winced. "Eww…"

"My eggs!" Dramatik burst onto the scene. "My eggs! My eggs! Where are my eggs!? Tis the season to be laying! To fa! Oh la! Oh fa la la la la la! Why didst thou fa when thou should have la'd!?"

The dramatist kneeled before the golden statue and ran his fingers down his face, thus ending his so-called 'scene'.

"Dang it, Dramatik!" Jasper hit the man over the head with his hat. "Can't you see yer scarin' the young'n?"

Stephanie took two steps away from the men with a very disturbed look on her face. "Oh, I hope I find that crystal soon."

"Now what's this crystal business you keep talking about?" Louie asked as he and his wife Alice approached them. 

"According to my uncle, each town inside the Trinity has a magic crystal that can help bring harmony when things get out of control."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly happened to your town, hun?"

Stephanie's face sharpened. "Something bad. Something _really_ bad. And the only way to make it go away is by uniting the Trinity crystals and restoring order."

"Gee, kid." Louie shook his head. "I don't know anything about a Trinity crystal. Do _you_, Alice?"

The blond woman shook her head. "Sorry, hun."

A disheartened Stephanie looked down and sighed when she suddenly heard a familiar sound. Slowly, she looked up and saw a small group of chickens heading towards them and panicked.

"Oh, no!" She cried. "More chickens!" 

Louie noticed the young girl hiding behind him and Alice and chuckled. "Well, what's wrong? Don't you like chickens?"

"Of course I do!" She whimpered. "But only when they're served to me on a plate!"

"Shoot!" Jasper grabbed one of the birds by the neck. "You haven't lived 'til you tried Ma's special recipe!"

"Ooh…" Alice started to tremble. "Charred chili chutney chicken! My favorite!"

"You guys really have a thing for chickens, huh?" Stephanie scratched her head.

Before they could explain to the young girl, a boy called out to Jasper from inside the hotel and caught their attention.

"Hey pa! I done stinkered my britches!" The voice cried.

"Consarn it!" The old man threw his hat to the floor. "I done told you not to overdo it! Hang on! I'll be up there in a minute!"

Stephanie thought it best to walk away from the kind yet obviously crazy strangers and explored her surroundings. She could see several barns of chickens, wooden signs shaped like eggs, carriages shaped like eggs as well and a payphone that was also shaped like an egg.

"Wow." Stephanie gazed around. "This is really creepy."

While walking, Stephanie accidentally bumped into Ma as she was returning from the market. The round woman managed to catch the pink girl before she fell all the way down.

"I'm sorry!" Stephanie said.

"Oh, that's all right! Yer still gettin' used ta bein' here!" She chuckled.

"Yeah… Listen, are you sure there's no crystal around here?"

"Crystal?" Ma shook her head. "Hun, I don't know anything about no crystal."

Stephanie looked down again, her hope rapidly declining. "Then what do I do now?"

"Y'know what?" Ma then got an idea. "I bet the Professor would know!"

"The Professor?" 

Ma nodded. "Sure! He's a real smarty-pants when it comes to stuff like that! That's why we made him the town doctor!"

"What was he before?"

"Pooper scooper."

Stephanie shuddered. "Oh, that makes me feel _real_ better…"

"The only problem, 'course, is that he's out of town."

"Out of town? Until when?" 

"Tomorrow. I reckon we could stop by and pay him a visit. I'm sure he'll have the answers yer lookin' for."

Stephanie nodded, a decimal of hope returning to her but then shook it off immediately. "No, I can't stay here too long! I'm on a tight schedule! Hundreds of lives depend on it!"

"Hun…" Ma placed her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "It's obviously been a long day for ya. And it ain't gonna do much good if ya work yerself ta death. Tell ya what. I'll set up a room for you in the hotel, free of charge, fix ya up with a nice meal and tomorrow Jasper and I will take ya ta see the Professor. Sound like a plan?"

Stephanie managed to crack a smile and shrugged. "Well… I guess It couldn't hurt to rest."

"There ya go!" She chuckled. "C'mon! I'll get ya set up with a room and get supper ready!"

"Thanks." The pink one said as Ma led her back to the hotel.

"And yer in luck!" Ma continued. "I just happened to pick up some extra chutney!"

"Oh boy…"


	10. One Of Those Nights

**Chapter 10**

That very night, once the sun had just about gone down, Stephanie sat at the dinner table next to Alice and Louie as Ma brought in various dishes for them to enjoy.

"Whoo boy!" An excited Jasper hollered as he removed his teeth. "Fried taters!"

"All right, everybody!" Ma said. "Y'all dig in and don't be shy! There's plenty more where that came from!"

Stephanie eyeballed the different kinds of food and was surprised to find them mostly egg-based. Platters of egg salad, boiled eggs, deviled eggs, egg rolls, scrambled egg and hash, omelets, eggnog and egg casserole were amongst those scattered about the table. Ma noticed Stephanie trying to decide which to eat from first and reached over with a bowl of her special recipe.

"Here, hun." She said. "Try some of my specialty!"

Stephanie almost gagged at the sight. "You mean… charred chili chutney chicken?"

The woman nodded. "You got it! Ain't nobody ever stuck their nose in it before and I ain't about ta let it happen now!"

"Really?" Stephanie faintly chuckled, afraid to upset the kind woman. "Okay…"

Fearing for her life, Stephanie stuck her fork into a piece of the chicken and slowly placed it in her mouth. With her eyes and mouth closed, she chewed through the meat and let the sauce play with her tongue as everyone watched curiously.

After a few moments, Stephanie's face lit up as she found herself actually enjoying the bizarre dish Ma had made.

"How come I've never heard of this stuff before!?" The girl exclaimed.

"Ya like it?" Ma asked.

"Like it!? I love it!"

"Well help yerself!" 

As everyone enjoyed their meal, Dramatik stood on his chair with a jar of chutney and began speaking to it.

"Ye gods! What manner of being are you that can entrance us with your savory flavor and blind us with your orangey tinge!?" Dramatik started to sob.

"Dramatik, get down from there!" Ma demanded. "Ain't nobody interested in yer silly games!"

The strange man gasped. "How dare you!? I play no games except the game… of _life_."

"Life is full of games…" Stephanie said with a wink in her eye.

"How would you know? You're too young to quipping philosophical conundrums like I do." 

"There's nothing philosophical about it." She said as she took another bite. "I just happen to know from experience."

"Dramatik, leave the child alone!" Alice knocked over the man. "And sit back down and eat yer supper!"

Young Michael sat across from Stephanie and started to chuckle some more, trying to avoid eye contact with her. The pink-haired girl noticed this and tried to get his attention.

"Is something wrong, Michael?" She asked.

"Hehehe…" He giggled. "…No…"

"Are you sure?"

The strange little boy then pulled on his hair and smothered his face along the tablecloth. "We've got lumps of 'em out back! Lumps! Hehehe…" He said.

"Lumps of what?"

Michael giggled some more and started eating from his plate much like a dog would do. "Lumps of 'em! Boom! Boom! Bwa-hahahaha!"

Stephanie then noticed nobody else was paying attention to the young boy as they continued eating their dinner. Stephanie shrugged and decided to follow their example.

"Oh well." She said. "If they can ignore it, then I guess I can too."

Dramatik then stood on his chair once more. "Oh my eggs! My eggs! Wherefore art thou my eggs!?"

In response, everyone pelted the man with raw eggs and didn't stop until his face was dripping with yolk and egg whites. Calmly, he sat back down and continued eating.

"Nice dinner by the way…" Was all he said.

♠♠♠♠♠

That same night back in LazyTown, Pixel and the others scattered through the shadows and approached the glowing Lazy Fountain in the middle of the park. The trees above them helped provide a little more cover from any prying eyes that may threaten their mission.

"This is it." Pixel said as he switched on his scanners.

Ziggy looked around nervously as he held onto Trixie's arm. "Are you s-sure no one's gonna f-find us out h-here?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Ziggy!" Trixie griped.

"Except the dark!"

"Now you guys are absolutely sure Sportacus will be all right by himself while we're away?" Pixel asked.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Trixie sighed. "He'll be fine! There's enough video games and DVDs in your room to occupy him for a week!"

"Really?"

Trixie shook her head. "It's _your_ room! You should know!"

Stingy, lured in by the glowing light, stuck his head in the water and got a closer look at the crystals.

"They're all so pretty!" He shouted as he stuck his head back out. "I want them! I want them!"

"Shh! Stingy, be quiet!" Trixie placed a hand over his mouth. "You want to get us caught?"

"Uhh… you guys?" Ziggy pointed out to something but they were too busy fussing with each other.

"Of course I don't want to get caught!" Stingy said. "What I want is those crystals! They're shiny!" 

Trixie shook her head. "They're not toys! They're important to our mission!"

"They're mine!"

"They're important!"

"They're mine!"

"They're important!" 

"They're junk!" Pixel added. "They're just regular crystals! No magic source or anything!"

"You guys, turn around now!" Ziggy finally shouted.

Pixel, Stingy and Trixie suddenly found themselves captured by some of the rock creatures Remus had sent out on patrol. Ziggy was also snatched and taken away with his friends as the tall mounds of stone marched all the way back to the black tower.

"Nice going, Stingy." Trixie grumbled.

"It's Ziggy's fault! Not mine!" He snapped.

"Well there's a surprise! Something that_ isn't _yours!"

♠♠♠♠♠

After dinner, Stephanie stepped out on the porch where she saw Jasper rocking in his chair while whittling a block of wood. The old man then started to sniff in the wind as it blew against his face.

"Yep." He said. "It's gonna be one of those nights!"

"What do you mean?" A confused Stephanie asked.

"Storm's a-comin'!" 

"A storm? Really?" 

The old man nodded. "Yes'm. I s'pose we're due for a rainy night any minute now." 

"Well how soon?"

Just then, a crackle of lightning spread across the night sky as the wind picked up speed. Barn doors, wooden signs and fields of grass started to blow in various directions as a storm kicked in CrazyTown.

"I reckon now's a good time." Jasper smiled.

"Oh, this isn't good…" Stephanie said as she backed away.

As the rain fell, the winds only grew stronger. Several residents of the city then stepped out of their homes and into the pouring rain, their arms extended and mouths open. Stephanie then noticed Jasper climbing up a wooden pole and shouting out to the black clouds as the water drenched him.

"Yee-haw!" The old man started flailing his hat. "C'mon! Come and get me! Yee-haw!"

A very freaked out Stephanie then turned to see Michael and several other children flopping around in the mud like fish out of water.

"Hehehe…" Michael laughed then gargled some of the mud in his mouth. "Lumps, I said!"

Dramatik then danced around in the rain, reciting yet another one of his strange poems. "Ode to the god of rain and thunder! Your sweet nectar do I chunder! Wet, wild and full of life, I share my blood with my knife!"

"No, Dramatik! Don't!" Stephanie shouted.

The actor took out a plastic spreading knife and pretended to run it through his stomach then fell over in the rain as it continued falling.

"What's wrong with these people!?"

As the storm continued, a group of chickens escaped from their cages and scattered throughout the muddy ground. They pecked and pecked but nobody seemed to mind as they all did their thing.

"Chickens." Stephanie continued. "Why am I not surprised?"

She turned around yet again and saw Jasper hanging onto the pole as the wind tried to blow him away.

"You ain't gonna get rid of me that easily!" The old man shouted as his teeth flew out. "Yee-haw! C'mon, ya pansy! I'm ready for ya!"

"Okay, I think I've had enough." Stephanie said as she went back inside the hotel. "Tomorrow morning, this will all have been a dream. Yeah, that's it. A dream." 

She looked back once more and noticed Dramatik moving his body around like the wind and splashing his face all over the icky mud as the chickens pecked around him.

"Yes, my feathery friends! Peck! Peck with all your might and let me roam amongst your kind! I seek your wisdom! Huzzah! Hurrah! Excelsior!" The actor cried.

The young girl just shook her head. "Oh forget it…"


	11. Hyperactivity Is Activity

**Chapter 11**

Remus paced around the office, staring at each of the captured children's vacant expressions and couldn't help but grin. The rock giants that held them in place stood idly by, awaiting for their master's instructions. Ms. Busybody, however, feared for the children's lives as she also stood by, helpless.

"Tell me…" The 30 year old started. "…What were you children doing near the Lazy Fountains?"

"We were looking for magic—Ow!" Ziggy was cut short by Trixie kicking him in the shin.

"We were hanging around the park when it got dark and we decided we were too lazy to head back home." Trixie said in a slow, almost whiney tone. "Hey, thanks for giving us a lift!"

"Is this true?" Remus asked, actually buying the story.

"Yes!" All of the children answered in unison.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" He gave Trixie a grave stare.

"Nope. Too lazy to tell the truth." She simply shrugged.

"Very good! What model citizens you've become!" The man clapped his hands. "Your contributions to society will not go unnoticed!"

"Yeah! Being lazy is awesome!" Ziggy played along as he whipped out a bag of candy much to Remus' horror.

"W-what is that!?" Remus pointed at the brown bag.

"It's my candy bag!" The blue-eyed boy held out a handful of gummies. "Want some?"

Disgusted and horrified at the same time, Remus swiped the bag and tossed it in an empty bin next to the bookshelf.

"Hey!" The young boy protested.

"Eating candy is not being a responsible LazyTown citizen!" The man declared. "By eating candy, you are violating several laws that require you to be at your laziest!"

"What? How do you mean?" Pixel asked.

"It's very simple, my dear boy!" Remus pulled down a slide from a stand that was supposedly standing next to him the entire time.

"Candy has sugar." He pointed at a drawing of a bag of sugar then moved onto a stick figure drawing. "Sugar causes hyperactivity. Hyperactivity is activity. Activity is the enemy of everything lazy. To be lazy, you must be inactive. Activity means being active. Therefore if you are active, then you are not lazy. And if you're not lazy…"

"Then we're in trouble?" Trixie guessed.

"_Big_ trouble." The man said in a threatening tone. He then pointed out the steadily declining energy meter. "This is your town's energy meter. It is currently at 29 percent Ideally, it should be somewhere between… zero and nothing! All this candy, running, jumping and playing is bad for the environment! So long as you keep it up, the meter will never go down! Understand, children?"

"B-but…" Ziggy started to cry. "My candy! I never go anywhere without it!"

The blond-haired man put a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "You're going to have to learn then, won't you?"

"Candy…" He whimpered some more.

"Don't worry, young one. You'll soon get it out of your system just like all the running and jumping you used to do. Ugh! Such nasty habits! I don't know how you managed to survive that pink thing before I came along. You know that she—wait a minute!" He suddenly came to yet another realization. "Where's the pink one!? And what's the status of Rotten!?"

One of the rock statues approached the evil founder and handed him a note found in Robbie's lair. In a short message, it simply read:

_Dear Remus, _

_I went out for a walk and was kidnapped by the pink-haired imp. If you're wondering why I wrote this it's because she told me to. Send help. I mean, __don't__ send help! Don't!_

_-R.R._

"Oh, brave Rotten!" Remus crumpled up the letter. "Kidnapped by that fiendish pink devil! What ever shall we do!?"

"Stephanie kidnapped Robbie?" Ms. Busybody whispered to Pixel.

"I don't think so." Pixel replied. "He must have made it up. But why?"

"Brave, brave Rotten!" Remus continued. "In the hands of someone so small yet wicked!"

"Why don't you go get him?" Bessie suggested, hoping to get rid of the man.

"Nah, too lazy." The evil founder said, almost too quickly. "He will be missed!"

"Why don't you send your rock… thingies?"

"Good idea! But I don't want to!" He then redirected his attention to the children. "Okay, kids! You're free to go! Now don't let uncle Remus down and get caught doing something un-lazy, okay? Remember to snore 3 times a night and drool 8 glasses a day!"

"We will…" All the kids replied, trying to sound even lazier.

Once the they had magically teleported back to the town's surface, the kids huddled around Milford's statue.

"That was close…" Pixel sighed with relief. "We can't get caught like that again or we're done for!"

"What are we gonna do now?" Trixie asked. "Those crystals were totally bogus and the town's energy meter is already starting to decline."

"I don't know." Pixel shook his head. "We're really way in over our heads on this one."

"What was up with Robbie's letter?" Stingy asked. "If you ask me, that sounded a little suspicious."

"You're right." Pixel then noticed Ziggy, shivering and rubbing his arms. "Ziggy, are you okay?"

"C-candy… need c-candy…" His mouth trembled.

"All right…" Pixel sighed. "It's already getting late. We'd better head back home and sleep on the whole thing. We'll regroup at my place tomorrow morning and figure out a new plan."

"Do you think Ziggy will be okay?" Stingy pointed out to the boy, who was cradling in a fetal position.

"I'd say he's got a long night ahead of him."

♠♠♠♠♠

Stephanie awoke the next morning to the sound of a very obnoxious rooster, who instead of the usual '_cock-a-doodle-doo_', wailed '_zippity-friggin'-do-da-wake-your-butt-up_' in its place.

"Well good morning to you too… _jerk_." Stephanie rolled her eyes.

After brushing her teeth and eating her breakfast, which obviously included yet another variety of egg product, the girl in pink stepped out on the porch and was surprised to see the town still intact. The signs were still in place, roofs were unharmed, the chickens were still cooped up and there wasn't a sign of mud anywhere. It was as if the whole storm never even occurred.

"What happened?" She scratched her head. "I thought the storm blew everything out of place."

"It did." Louie stepped out. "But we fixed it. No problem."

"What do you mean you fixed it?"

"I mean we fixed it. Simple as that."

"What? When?"

"Not too long ago."

"Yeah, but when?"

"Probably around midnight or so. Didn't take us too long."

"You mean to tell me you've all been up this whole time, fixing the town?"

"Yeah. Why? Something wrong with that?"

"No. I just think it's..."

"It's what?"

"...Crazy."

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Probably."

As he passed her by, Stephanie just looked even more confused. "Then it happened? The storm, I mean. It really, really happened?"

"Sure."

"Then Jasper dangling against the wind, the chickens pecking around Dramatik and Michael and the other kids playing in the mud—It really happened?"

"Uhh… Yeah." Louie nodded along, almost uncertain as to what Stephanie had said.

"You're sure."

He nodded. "I'm sure."

"Stephanie!" Ma called out as she and Jasper approached the young girl. "Ya ready to see the Professor, hun?"

"Oh yeah!" She nodded enthusiastically.

"How do ya like my new chompers?" Jasper flashed his new set of dentures, made entirely of wood.

"They're, uhh…" Stephanie tried to think of the best word to compliment the old man without hurting his feelings. "…Nice?"

"Hear that!? She thinks they're nice!" The old man started to dance a jig. "Hoo boy! Yahoo!"

Stephanie then had a disturbing thought. "Hey, Jasper?"

"Yes?"

"Those teeth you're wearing? They don't happen to be what you were whittling last night, are they?"

"A-course they are!" He spat out the dentures and showed them to the young girl. "Can't ya see the fine craftsmanship?"

Stephanie winced as she noticed a small termite crawling around the wooden teeth. "Yeah! I do! Just put them back in! Please!"

"Jasper, quite bein' so doggone nasty!" Ma slapped him upside the head with a newspaper.

"Dang it, woman!" He whined.

"All right, hun. Let's go see the Professor."

"Yes please!" Stephanie immediately dashed off the porch. "The sooner I get out of this place, the better…"


	12. The Professor & The Mother

**Chapter 12**

Pixel awoke that same morning and slowly crawled out of bed as to not disturb Sportacus, who had fallen asleep on the couch covered with crumbs of junk food and empty cans of whipped cream. The television had been left on all night, which was probably how the blue sports elf finally succumbed to his slumber.

"We really need to fix you…" Pixel whispered to himself as he headed towards the closet to get dressed.

The streets of LazyTown were vacant, quiet and still just as Remus Tard had ordered it to be. With the combined forces of Robbie's lazy ray and Remus' magic amulet, the town and its people were now under what the kids had referred to as a 'lazy spell'.

Within the black tower, Remus awoke to the sound of birds chirping in the trees and stuck his head out the window in aggravated mood.

"Hey!" He called out to two birds rubbing against each other lovingly in a tree. "Cut it out!"

The two birds gave the man an empty stare and puffed their chests outward, chirping even louder. Remus growled under his breath and stuck out his magic amulet, unleashing an energy beam towards the two birds, turning them into stone and silencing them for good.

"There!" He said. "That's better! Benny! Breakfast!"

Oddly enough, Ms. Busybody woke up to Remus' call inside her home, in her room and in her bed. Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, she mumbled under her breath. "It's _Bessie_, you moron…"

♠♠♠♠♠

Stephanie followed Ma and Jasper down the dirty streets of CrazyTown, where they soon stumbled upon a small gathering outside an old cabin. Groups of people huddled around a man in a white coat, messy gray hair and huge thick glasses as he stood on top of an old pickup truck with several duffel bags laid at his feet.

"Welcome back, doc!" One of the townspeople said. "Have a nice trip?"

"Uh-huh…" The man tried to pay no attention as he scoured through his bags.

"Wow, I bet you found some really nice things like last time!" A small child jumped excitedly.

Stephanie couldn't help but notice the townspeople's anticipation and eagerness to learn the Professor's findings then tugged at Ma's short sleeve.

"Why all the excitement?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"Oh, the Professor's always doin' a buncha travelin' around and bringin' stuff back." Ma answered.

"Kind of like an archaeologist?"

"An arca-what?"

Stephanie shook her head, chuckling softly. "Never mind."

"Where'd ya go this time, Prof!?" Jasper slapped his hand on the man's back, nearly knocking him off the truck.

"I've returned from a plathe I no longer wisch to go back to!" He lisped. "Thumwhere dark and creepy and everywhere you go there'th alwayth thumone looking at you funny!"

"You don't mean…" Ma put her hand on her mouth.

"Yeth!" The Professor stuck a finger in the air. "I've returned from the Forbidden Thone!" 

Stephanie thought for a moment and tried to correct him. "You mean Forbidden _Zone_"?

"Yeth. That'th exthactly what I meant to thay."

The Professor pulled out his first item from the bag, which was an old lawn gnome covered with rust and dirt.

"Behold!" The Professor began. "The remainth of what appearth to be a thivilian from an ancient colony of little people!"

"Oooh…" Everyone was intrigued.

"What!?" Stephanie smacked her hand against her head in disbelief.

"Where'd ya find this thing?" Ma asked.

"In a thmall hill that I believe wath wunth the little man'th village." He explained. "You should have theen it. Nothing but… but _dethtruction_. Tireth, pietheth of thcrap metal and moundth and moundth of gunk!"

Louie examined the ceramic decoration and widened his eyes in awe. "It's amazing!"

"It looks like it's still alive." Alice added.

"It's a mystery." Said Ma.

"It's just a lawn gnome." Stephanie scratched her head. "Big deal."

"Foolisch child!" The Professor swiped the gnome away. "Schow thum rethpect for the dead!"

"What!? It's only porcelain! It's not a real person!"

"Then how do you explain thith?" He pulled out a dead crow. "You thee that!? They mutht have traveled on the bacth of thethe creatureth and probably kept them ath peth, too!"

"Eww!" Stephanie covered her face. "That's just a dead bird!"

"Maybe to uth it'th jutht a dead bird but to them, it wath a loyal thteed!"

"All right, first of all… I don't understand a word you're saying! Second of all, you're just bringing trash from a junkyard!"

"A what!?"

"A junkyard! A place where people's junk comes together and piles up into a landfill."

"You lie! I retrieved thethe artifacth from the Forbidden Thone!"

"Exactly what _is_ the Forbidden Zone?"

"A plathe where only the bravetht and foolisch go to find a thenth of adventure and exthitement! A plathe beyond our thity limith."

Stephanie gave him a strange look. "Beyond your city limits?"

"Oh, yeth. There lieth a plathe where… wait a minute. Who are you?"

"My name's Stephanie. I'm from LazyTown." 

"LathyTown!?"

"No, _Lazy_Town..."

"That'th what I thaid!"

"No, you thaid, I mean—you said… oh, forget it!"

Suddenly all of the townspeople murmured amongst themselves, surprised that the young girl before them came from somewhere beyond what was called the Forbidden Zone.

"Ma, is this true?" One of the locals asked.

"Sure. This lil' pink thing's from across the lawn, if ya get my drift." The round woman smiled.

"Wait, I don't get it." Stephanie stepped away from the group. "What's wrong with that? You knew it existed, right?"

The townspeople exchanged glances and were unable to give her an answer. The Professor stepped off the truck and paced around Stephanie, examining her from top to bottom and shook his head.

"How did you get here? The road ith broken apart. You couldn't have pothibly made it by vehicle."

"No." Stephanie shook her head. "I walked. And by the way, what's the deal with that road? What happened to it?"

"Thumthing bad happened, that'th what!"

"A long time ago when I was a young'n, one doozy of a storm passed by here and demolished the road to bits." Ma explained. "We tried fixin' the thing but for some reason it kept breakin' up again."

"I must have worked on that road over a hundred times, I reckon." Jasper said as he spat into a brass bucket. "And a hundred times that road kept on a-breakin'!"

"We thought wherever that storm went, it took out everything in its way." Louie added. "That's why we never bothered checking in to see if there was even such a thing as the Trinity anymore."

"And the storm's kept on a-comin'…" Alice said. "Take last night, for example."

"Are you thure you're from LathyTown?" The Professor changed the subject.

"Of course I'm sure!" The pink one almost growled at him.

He scoffed. "Oh really? Then why have you come here to CrathyTown?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with something. Something important that concerns the safety of my home."

"Like what?"

"I'm looking for the Trinity crystal that resides somewhere in your town."

"A Trinity Crythtal?"

"It's supposed to have magic powers that can benefit the three towns when they're all joined together."

"Hmm…" The Professor bowed his head down for a moment and thought. "We'll have to check with the Mother."

"The Mother?"

After another walk through CrazyTown, Stephanie was almost scared to death when she and the following onlookers arrived at a large chicken pen, where several of the children were playing with the fat, white birds.

"Oh no…" Stephanie started to hyperventilate. "Not the crazy chickens again. Please…"

"Hi, everybody!" One of the children waved as he grabbed one of the chickens by the feet. "What brings y'all here?"

"We've come to thee the Mother." Answered the Professor.

"Wow!" The boy acknowledged a nervous Stephanie. "That's a lot of pink! Hey, Jordan! Come check out this funny lookin' gal!"

One of the boys, known as Jordan, approached his friend as he stuffed three of the chickens down his overalls. "Whaddya want, Loomis?"

"Ain't this girl got a lotta pink on her, or what?"

"Boys, this here is Stephanie." Jasper introduced them. "She's from LazyTown."

"Golly, Miss Stephanie! You sure are purty!" Loomis giggled shyly.

"Thanks…" Stephanie trembled at the sight of all the chickens pecking around. "What's with all the chickens, man!?"

"The Hen Mother might have what you're looking for." The Professor told her. "All you have to do ith go inthide her coop and retrieve her glath egg."

"I'm guessing you said 'glass egg', right?"

"Yeth. I have a lithp. It'th thilly."

Stephanie shrugged and placed her backpack on the ground then proceeded to go over the small wooden fence built around the chicken coop. Upon setting her foot on the ground, several of the chickens immediately charged after her and caused her to go back over to the other side with the CrazyTowners.

"Okay, that was a bad idea!" Stephanie said in a panic. "Can't you call them off!?"

"Like a bunch of chickens are gonna listen to _us_." Louie shook his head and laughed.

"Maybe if we pray to the almighty Yolk Giver, they'll back down!" The Professor suggested. 

"Yes! The Yolk Giver!" One of the people said. "Excellent idea, Professor!"

At that moment, everyone but Stephanie dropped to their knees and looked up to the sun with their hands clutched to their chests and prayed silently.

"Okay, what's going on _now_?" Stephanie grew impatient.

"Dramatik, if you pleath…" Suggested the Professor.

"O mighty Yolk Giver!" The actor exclaimed, seeming to appear from out of nowhere. "We praise thy name and look to thee for guidance this very day! We ask of you but one thing! Deliver this young girl from the dangers of your peck children and give her passage through the kingdom of the Hen Mother! Amen!"

The actor then stared directly at the sun's beams and could literally feel his eyes beginning to burn up as he screamed in pain.

"Forgive me, Yolk Giver!" He cried. "I have forgotten to avert my eyes from your divine shine!"

"You guys worship the sun?" Stephanie tried to hold back her laughter.

"Yes, I suppose you could call him the son of Oolah Boolah." Louie said.

"Oolah Boolah!" The CrazyTowners shouted in unison then clapped their hands once.

"Let me guess. Oolah Boolah's some sort of giant chicken who hatched the sun. I mean… the Yolk Giver." Stephanie concluded.

"Oh, so you've heard of him?" Louie was impressed by her conclusion.

"Never mind." Stephanie said as she reached for her backpack.

As she picked it up, the soccer ball her friends had packed rolled along the dirt floor and over to one of the young children. Loomis picked up the ball and was amazed at its black and white texture then showed it to the Professor.

"Hey Professor!" He ran up to him. "What's this thing, here?"

"Thith?" The man in the white coat examined the ball. "Oh, that… uhh… oh, I know! Thimple! It'th a cow egg!"

"Wow! A cow egg!"

"A cow egg!?" The pink one couldn't believe her ears. "It's not a cow egg!"

"If yer so smart, then what is it?"

"It's a soccer ball!" She said as she took it away from the Professor.

"What's a soccer ball?" Jordan scratched his head.

"I dunno…" Loomis shrugged.

"Haven't you ever played soccer before?" Stephanie suddenly found herself reminiscing. "Have you never skipped rope?" 

"Nuh-uh." The kids shook their heads.

"Have you never played ball?"

"No."

"Never jumped around?"

"Nope."

"Have you never danced at all?"

"Hey!" Loomis grew impatient. "What part of 'no' don't ya get!?"

"Sorry." The pink-haired girl then got an idea. "Wait a minute…"

"What's goin' on in that head-a yers, hun?" Ma asked.

"I think it's time to play a little soccer." She grinned as she took the ball and climbed over the small pen once more.

Setting the ball on the ground, Stephanie took a deep breath and waited for the chickens to come to her. Once they began their attack, the young girl kicked the ball and maneuvered her way around the birds swiftly and without hesitation. The ball acted as a distraction and weapon at the same time, hitting some of the chickens and luring others away, allowing the pink-haired girl to move in closer to the chicken coop. With everyone watching and cheering her on, Stephanie gained the confidence to play her way past the birds and finally make it inside the small house, where a grotesquely large chicken sat on its nest.

"Whoa, you're big…" Stephanie slowly walked towards the Hen Mother.

Stephanie looked around the large bird, trying to find some way to get her hands on the crystal that waited for her on the bottom. Having no other choice, Stephanie decided to try and lift the chicken but found the animal to be way too heavy for her.

"Okay, chickie…" The young girl said out of breath. "…Do you realize the trouble I'm in? I really need this egg."

The bird gave her an empty stare and clucked carelessly as Stephanie sighed and leaned against an empty nest as big as the Hen Mother's. Another sigh and Stephanie turned her head, noticing the name on the base of the nest.

"What the… Ol' Bertha?" She read aloud. "No way…"

She then noticed the Hen Mother pointing her head at something near the nest. Stephanie tried to figure out what it was and placed her hand on the dry straw that was strewn about the nest.

"What?" She asked. "What are you pointing at? I don't see anything."

After running her hand along the nest, the pink-haired girl finally felt something unusual. It was smooth, almost glass-like and very small. Slowly pulling the object out, Stephanie was pleasantly surprised to find a glowing egg-shaped crystal in her hand.

"I found it." She smiled at the Mother. "I actually found it!"

The Hen Mother bowed its head with a smile and clucked, indicating her praise for the young girl. Moments later, Stephanie climbed over the pen and greeted the CrazyTowners with her hand in the air.

"I found it! I found the Trinity crystal!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! Good one, kid!" Louie applauded along with everyone else.

"C'mon, short stuff!" Jasper put his arm around the young girl. "Let's go to Louie's canteen to celebrate!"

"I can't believe it…" Stephanie smiled at the crystal. "I actually did it. LazyTown's a lot closer to being normal again!"

"What's she talkin' about?" Loomis asked.

"I don't know." Jordan said. "I wanna find out more about that cow egg!"


	13. Shifts In The Balance

**Chapter 13**

Pixel, Trixie, Stingy and a very sugar withdrawn Ziggy wandered around the crowded streets of LazyTown as everyone marched towards the black tower in a zombie-like fashion. The evil founder stood at the balcony with two of his rock men and Ms. Busybody by his side. He looked down on the sleepy-eyed citizens and spoke to them in a loud, almost dictator-like manner.

"My beloved LazyTown!" He began. "A new day has dawned under the new regime! Or should I say the _old_ regime? They _real_ regime! The way LazyTown was _supposed_ to be run!"

"This guy's getting on my nerves." Trixie scoffed. "We have to do something."

"But what?" Stingy asked. "We never found the Trinity crystal."

"I say we make a stand right here and now." Trixie stomped her foot.

"Are you crazy!?" Pixel shook her by the shoulders. "He'll have us turned to stone!" 

"There's an old saying, Pixel. 'It's better to live one moment as a bear then your entire life as a worm'. Make sense?"

Pixel nodded. "Yeah but who's ever heard of a wormskin rug!?"

"Come on, Pixel! We've got to do something!"

With a reluctant sigh, Pixel and Stingy exchanged glances and nodded. Pixel looked up to make sure Remus was still going on with his uninspiring speech and gave Trixie another look.

"All right." He finally said. "What did you have in mind?"

As the kids concocted a new plan, Remus continued going on about how he was much better acting as mayor than Milford much to Bessie's disgust.

"History defines progress that…" Remus thought for a moment. "…Uhh… ooh! I know! Just because we can do a certain thing, does not mean we _should_ do that thing!"

"What does that mean?" Bessie groaned from boredom.

"I don't know but I saw it in a movie once and it totally rocked my world! Anyway, people… Perhaps the most important change I have made is that…" Remus could then hear the distant sound of music playing somewhere in the background. "…That everything is now… lazy. Where is that music coming from!?"

Remus squinted his eyes and looked down on the surface, where he saw Trixie and the others dancing to some very loud techno music as the other LazyTown residents stood around with vacant expressions.

"No!" Remus growled. "Those kids disobeyed me!" 

"Come on, everyone!" Trixie danced around, trying to get everyone involved. "Let's bust a move! Let's go!"

As the music kept playing the kids kept dancing except for Ziggy, who wandered around like a lost puppy looking for its master.

"Candy…" He said in a gloomy tone. "Where's my candy?"

"Not now, Ziggy!" Stingy danced around. "We've got to dance!"

"Exactly why are we doing this again?" Pixel asked as he turned up the volume on his hand-held stereo.

"If we can get everyone moving, we might be able to raise the energy meter and break Remus' spell!" Trixie explained as she continued trying to get everyone motivated.

"It's not working!" Stingy could feel himself tiring.

"Keep dancing, Stingy!"

Laughing like a maniac, Remus leaned back and banged his hand on the balcony as his rock minions watched in confusion.

"Oh, those kids are so cute!" He chuckled. "Go ahead, kids! Dance all you want! You won't succeed! Trust me!"

As the music switched to something fast-paced and jazzy, everyone could start to feel the beat run through their bodies. Little Ritchie, first victim of Robbie's Lazy Ray, slowly but surely tapped his feet to the percussion then immediately bobbed his head along the wind accompaniments.

"Yes, that's it Ritchie!" Trixie encouraged him. "Dance!"

Soon after, everyone else followed the young boy's example and moved along to the music much to the kids' joy. Then, once everyone was making some kind of movement, they all joined together and danced a suspiciously choreographed routine as Remus growled furiously.

"Oh, no they di-in't!" Remus waved his finger. "Rock men! Stop them at once! Now, I say! Now!"

After a long pause, he realized the music was still playing and the people of LazyTown were raising the energy meter with all their dancing. Curious, he stuck his head back out and noticed his rock minions had joined in on the dancing.

"What!?" He shrieked. "No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! That's not being lazy! What's wrong with you!? Come on, man!"

The army of stone soldiers realized their mistake and let go of their respective dance partners, regretfully. As the music continued, Trixie and the others could see their little operation was about to be cut short as the army approached them.

"Guys?" Trixie chuckled nervously. "We've got a problem!"

♠♠♠♠♠

At Louie's privately owned canteen, the CrazyTowners gathered around Stephanie and threw a little victory party for her as she gazed at the egg-shaped crystal.

"So what ya gonna do with it, hun?" Ma asked as she took a drink.

"Well, I'm not sure. I know that once I find the other two crystals, I have to combine them but I don't know how." Stephanie scratched her head.

"And you're thure thith HathyTown existh?" The Professor asked. "Becauthe in all my journeyth, I have never heard of thuch a plathe."

"Haven't you guys ever traveled beyond CrazyTown?" Stephanie asked her friends.

"Shoot!" Jasper slapped his knee. "If we could, we would!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Jasper spat into another brass bucket then explained. "Now I dunno if it has anything ta do with that tornader we had all them years back but everytime we fix that road, it goes back ta bein' broken."

"Yeah, you told me that. But I don't see why you can't just travel _around_ the road."

"You see, kid…" Louie joined in. "It's not that we don't want to explore what's beyond our own backyard. It's just that we _can't_."

"But why?"

"There's something about it that if we start to head down the road, it becomes seemingly endless."

"Endless?"

"Well, _seemingly _endless. Tricky thing, though. Once we give up and turn around to head back, it takes less time to get back home than the time it took to travel down the road in the first place. It's as if we never even hit the road at all."

Stephanie's eyes widened. "Whoa... But then why is the Professor able to leave CrazyTown and not you guys?"

The Professor immediately got up to answer her question. "Thimple! I'm not from CrathyTown!"

"You're not?"

"Nope! I came here ath a thmall child and wath raithed by a loving fothter family! I wath adopted! And by thimple deducting, I concluded that all people born and raithed in CrathyTown are the only oneth affected by the roadth magic thpell!"

"Then that means you can pass it, right?"

"No."

Stephanie smacked her forehead. "No?"

"Thure, I wath adopted but I'm guething even _I_ can't get patht it! Tho I took the backroadth, through the Forbidden Thone!"

"Where no one has dared to cross." Stephanie concluded. "Except you."

"I guess it's just another one of those mysteries of life." Louie said. "Know what I mean?" 

"Like why's the sky so darn blue?" Jasper joked.

"Why are we here?" Alice asked.

"What's the meanin' of life?" Ma added in.

"Which came first? The egg or the chicken?" Stephanie chuckled along with everyone else inside the canteen.

"Shoot!" Jasper giggled. "As if we didn't know the answer to that!"

"Yeah. The chicken!" She joked much to everyone's horror.

The CrazyTowner's gasped and took a step back, giving each other strange looks as the law enforcement stepped in. The local sheriff removed his sunglasses and gave Stephanie a mean look.

"Did you say what I think you just said?" The sheriff demanded an answer.

Stephanie's face was now pale. "Uhh… what did you think I said?"

"Did you say the chicken came before the egg?"

Stephanie took a quick glance over to Ma, who was gesturing for her to say 'no' but she decided it best not to lie to the officer.

"Yes?" The pink-haired girl nervously responded as Ma and the others gulped.

**THIRTY SECONDS LATER…**

"I didn't know it was illegal to say 'chicken'!" Stephanie screamed as she ran away from an angry mob of CrazyTowners.

She quickly tucked the Trinity crystal in her backpack and headed down the back road, stumbling upon a small dock, where a shady looking sea captain sat idly on his rickety old boat.

"Howdy!" The gray-bearded captain greeted Stephanie as the mob slowly approached.

"Does this lake lead to the Yawn River?"

"Sure it does!"

"Can you take me to HazyTown!?" She asked the old man.

"Hop in!"

With that said, Stephanie wasted no time in getting in the boat and setting sail just as the angry CrazyTowners arrived at the now vacant dock.

Ma and the others waved goodbye to the young girl. "Take care, hun! And good luck with that Remus feller!"

"Nice kid." The sheriff grinned. "Too bad she can't take a joke."


	14. A Narrow Escape

**Chapter 14**

Stephanie sat on the boat as it gently rocked along the Yawn River and looked back to see if the CrazyTowners were still in view. Nothing. She sighed from relief and turned to the bearded old man in the yellow slicker and gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks again." She said.

"No problem, kid." He winked at the young girl as he rowed the boat with ease.

"My name's Stephanie, by the way."

"Folks call me Sharkey."

"Are you from CrazyTown?" 

The old sea captain shook his head. "Naw. Been traveling around the area with just my boat and my wits about me. I just came here from over yonder."

Stephanie gave him a puzzled look. "You mean down the broken road?"

"I suppose you could call it broken. I had the boat detailed and had her waitin' for me by the docks til I was ready to set sail. I'm mighty proud to say you're my first passenger."

"Really?" She smiled again. "Cool. So where are you from originally?" 

"LazyTown."

Stephanie's face lit up with surprise. "LazyTown!? Are you serious? That's where _I'm_ from!"

The old man cackled for a bit. "Small world, ain't it?"

"I don't think I've ever seen you around before."

The old man grinned and squinted a bit. "Oh, I think maybe you have once or twice…"

Stephanie thought for a moment but shook her head. "Nope. Sorry."

The old captain shrugged and continued rowing. "Aw, don't worry your pretty little head about it. So what's a young gal like yourself doin' all alone here in CrazyTown?"

"It's a complicated story." Stephanie said as she noticed an old wooden sign with a smear running across the note. "Hey, Sharkey? What did that sign say?"

He looked back. "Sign? What sign?"

She could now feel the current starting to pick up and held on firmly to the edge of the boat. "Oh no… Please don't tell me we're about to head for a… a…"

Sharkey let out a wide smile as he noticed the water pouring down the edge of the river. "A waterfall!" He shouted with joy.

"Sharkey!?" Stephanie panicked. "Isn't there anyway to go around it!?"

The sea captain shook his head and enthusiastically rowed forward. "Sorry, kid! But the only way to HazyTown is down the drink and through the rocks!"

"Yup." The pink-haired girl said as she leaned back and held on even tighter to the edges of the boat. "That's what I was afraid of."

In no time at all, the small wooden boat splashed rapidly and roughly along the heavy tide as it finally descended along the rocky hill. The young girl screamed as the old man laughed maniacally until they were both silenced by the body of water that finally cut off the seemingly endless fall.

♠♠♠♠♠

Remus' army of rock giants searched high and low for the rebellious young children as the evil tyrant himself stood amongst the hypnotized LazyTowners. After an hour of searching, one of the rock men stomped his way towards his master and removed his green hood.

"My lord…" His ragged voice boomed. "There is no sign of them anywhere."

"They're probably at home. Hiding from us." Remus gave the parents a mean look.

"We searched already, my lord. Nothing."

The blond-haired man turned to Ms. Busybody. "Becky…"

"Betty." She grit her teeth.

"Oh, whatever." He rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know where they might be hiding, would you?"

Ms. Busybody raised her head up high and shook her head. "No." 

"Now, be careful. You wouldn't want to lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you."

"Good." He then faced his minions again. "If they're gone, then it's probably for the best!" He then turned to the people of LazyTown. "Go on, LazyTown! Resume your daily activities… or lack thereof."

As Remus teleported back to his black tower, all of the citizens shook their heads and rubbed out the strange nauseating feeling they had inside. Little Ritchie looked up at one of the rock giants and waved at it.

"Hi!" He smiled. "What's your name? I'm Ritchie!"

There was no response. The crumbly face on the creature simply growled and looked away as it continued standing guard amongst its peers.

"What happened?" The local mailman asked. "One minute we were watching Sportacus play basketball with some blond moron and then…"

"Then Sportacus started to act funny…" One of the parents added.

"And Mayor Meanswell…" A small child pointed out the statue in horror. "Uh-oh. Looks like it _wasn't_ a dream."

From inside their clubhouse, Trixie and the others could see everyone moving about and coming around through the use of Pixel's high-tech binoculars.

"Yes!" Trixie high-fived Pixel. "I knew it would work!"

Pixel went over the schematics on his wrist computer. "Yeah but the energy meter isn't all the way back up. It's only risen about 20 percent."

"But the spell's been broken!" Stingy said. "That's good, right?"

Trixie nodded. "Yeah, it's good. We're a step closer but I have no idea where to go from here."

"So cold…" Ziggy rubbed his arms together as his face grew paler and paler by the minute. "Need s-sugar…"

"I'm either getting very worried or very annoyed." Stingy frowned.

"Okay, the crystal plan backfired on us." Pixel concluded. "But if we can somehow get everyone in town moving again, we can raise that energy meter and break Remus' spell long enough for Stephanie to get back and diminish it for good."

"Supposing she found the Trinity at all." Trixie said unenthusiastically.

"One problem..." Stingy said as he wrapped a blanket over a shivering Ziggy. "Now be careful with that, it's mine." He faced Pixel and Trixie again. "How are we gonna rally all of LazyTown together while Remus and his rock goons have the place surrounded."

"Yeah!" Trixie snapped. "How!?"

"All right, let me think…" Pixel scratched his head for a moment as his visor draped over his eyes. "Wait a minute. I think I've got an idea."

♠♠♠♠♠

The calm of the lake was eerily quiet for some time until the wooden remains of an old boat washed ashore with a rickety squeal. As a small wave washed some pieces of driftwood off, Stephanie was found unconscious underneath it all. Another wave and she was soon awake, unaware of what had just happened and where she was.

"Oh, I'm gonna feel that one in the morning…" She groaned, standing back up on her feet. "Great. I'm soaked. Wait, what happened?"

One look at the battered old boat said it all. She was lucky enough to survive the waterfall but now she hoped that luck would hold at least until the second Trinity crystal was found. Stephanie wrung out the ends of her pink skirt and threw her hair back until most of the water was gone.

"Okay…" She started. "So where am I?" 

As she started along the path, an eerie mist crept through the nearby bushes and hovered above the ground she walked on. Stephanie noticed this and tried to keep her cool, continuing through the path as the fog grew even larger.

"I'm not afraid…" She nervously said to herself. "I'm not… afraid."

A sudden crack caused the girl to shriek and look down to see what she had stepped on. With the fog growing too thick for her to see through, Stephanie bent over and picked up what felt like wet hair.

"What the…" Stephanie raised an eyebrow as she examined what appeared to be a set of gray facial hair similar to Sharkey's.

She looked down again and picked up what looked like the old sea captain's yellow slicker, still moist from the fall. Looking at the two objects together, Stephanie gulped and dropped them with a huge amount of fear building up in her.

"Okay…" She breathed heavily. "_Now_ I'm afraid."

There was some relief, however, as Stephanie walked towards an old wooden sign staked to the ground, which read: WELCOME TO HAZYTOWN


	15. Welcome To HazyTown

**Chapter 15**

The fog had gotten even thicker and wider as Stephanie proceeded through the city limits. She could feel the moist grass crushing beneath her shoes as she navigated her way through the mist with the flashlight she had packed. It was almost noontime but the sun was nowhere to be seen as a cold front came in.

"Hello?" She called out.

A small crackling noise emanated from behind a set of bushes, startling the young girl. She aimed the flashlight towards it but could see nothing unusual. Stepping forward, she moved her hand around the pointy leaves and screamed when a pair of bats fluttered away.

"Aah! Bats!" She shrieked and ran off, moving spastically like before. "They're in my hair! They're in my hair! No! Get away! Ugly bats, no! No, no, no!"

The girl immediately ducked down as another swarm of bats flew above her, screeching as they flapped their wings. "First crazy chickens, now bloodthirsty bats!?"

After running away from the ghastly sight and through the thick fog, the girl was eventually stopped in place when she knocked into yet another hard object.

"Oh, not again…" She groaned before passing out.

♠♠♠♠♠

Noon finally came into LazyTown as Remus fell off his marble throne, startled by the grandfather clock's chiming.

"Gah!" He shrieked as Bessie gave him a funny look. "I _meant_ to do that!"

"That's something Robbie would say." The woman sneered.

"I know how you feel. We all miss Rotten but he's in a better place now! And soon after, that pink devil will follow!"

"Where could Stephanie have gone?" Busybody whispered to herself as she noticed Milford's statue starting to crack.

"Oh, look at that!" The blond man snickered at the sight. "The meter's declining faster than I thought! Not only will LazyTown remain lazy but soon Milford Meanswell's statue will crumble and fall right in the heart of our town! Yes! Perfect!"

"You monster!" Ms. Busybody screamed as she started hitting the man much to his amusement.

"Restrain yourself, woman." He laughed, gripping his hands tightly around her arms. "There's nothing you can do. The meter's down to 14 percent and by the end of the day, all will be set right."

♠♠♠♠♠

Inside Pixel's house, the gizmo guy sat at his computer and desperately tried to hack into the city's mainframe. Trixie and Stingy, on the other hand, were busy trying to keep Sportacus under control and Ziggy focused on the situation.

"Candy… need sugar…" Ziggy jittered.

"We gave you sugar already, Ziggy!" Trixie complained.

"It's not the same… raspberry jam is _not_ the same!"

"Stingy, help me out here!"

"I'm busy here!" Stingy strained as he tried to pull Sportacus out of the bathroom, where he was giving it a makeover with the toilet paper.

"Pixel, what exactly is this idea of yours!?" Trixie demanded to know.

"I'm trying to hack into the city's mainframe and send everyone in town a message." The boy said, keeping his eyes on the computer monitor.

"What, through their computers?"

"Computers, television sets, game consoles, anything electronic. You name it, they'll get it."

"Really? You can do that?"

He gave her a smug look. "C'mon now. It's _me _you're talking to."

"You're right." She giggled.

For a moment, the two locked eyes and smiled at each other but immediately broke away, unsure of what had just happened. It was then when Sportacus leapt into the room, covered in toilet paper much to everyone's horror.

"Look!" The hero exclaimed. "I'm a mummy!"

"I don't get it!" Stingy said out of breath. "He's moving but he's still lazy! He'll run around the house, he'll eat massively and play video games from dusk till dawn but he won't go outside to sprint, jump or flip like he normally does!"

Pixel nodded as he gained access through the mainframe. "I know, Stingy. But all that's about to change."

"What are you doing?" Trixie asked as she leaned over him, looking at the screen.

"I'm about to transmit my message. If they get it, they'll show up."

"How do you know?"

"If they want to save LazyTown, they'll have to meet us there."

"But why the clubhouse?"

"We've still got that large pile of extra lumber inside it, right?"

"Yeah.""Plus the tools, wire and extra rope?"

Trixie nodded. "Yeah, all of that. So what?"

Pixel clicked on the 'Send' icon and gave his friends a somewhat sinister look. "It's time to get ourselves organized and prepare for the inevitable."

"What are you talking about?" Stingy scratched his head.

"I'm saying it's time we fight back."

♠♠♠♠♠

Stephanie came around and found herself in a familiar position, lying on a creaky old bed. She looked around but found herself all alone in a small room with walls of stone, lit only by a set of torches that hung on the brackets.

"Oh, my head..." She rubbed her temple, feeling yet another bump on her head. Surprisingly enough, it was right across from the one she received in CrazyTown.

It was then when a group of people in red cloaks walked in, holding candles and torches. Stephanie's eyes grew wide with fear as she leaned back and shielded herself with her backpack. The cloaked figures removed their hoods and revealed themselves to the panicky young girl.

"Welcome, child." An old man said. "My name is Astral."

"Oh no…" She got up from the bed. "Please tell me I didn't somehow knock myself back into the Dark Ages."

"No, nothing like that." He chuckled. "You are well into your own time, I can assure you."

"Where am I?"

"You're in HazyTown."

Stephanie sighed. "Oh, good. I saw the sign earlier. I was afraid I would get lost in the fog and end up in graveyard or something."

"I suppose in many ways you could call this place a graveyard." The old man continued. "Everything around here is so out of date, I'm not surprised you were under the delusion of unintended time travel."

"What's with the fog? Why can't I see anything?"

"It's a curse, little one." A younger looking man said. "He came to our town a very long time ago, claiming to be a hero."

"A hero? What hero?"

The old man paced around the room. "He came from a far-off land. I'm not sure which. But he saved people on a daily basis with ease until one day… well… the details are too disturbing for someone in your age group to listen to."

"What was his name?" Stephanie became suspicious. "The hero. What was his name?"

"We were unsure what to call him but the number on his chest led all of us to give him the name… Number 9."


	16. The Curse Of Number 9

**Chapter 16**

"Number Nine?" Stephanie's eyes grew wide. "No, that can't be right. My uncle told me he was a superhero. A _good_ guy."

"And your uncle would be right." The old man nodded. "However, he didn't know the events that took place in this very town that turned him into something different. Something vile and cruel."

Stephanie gave him an intrigued look. "What happened?"

"It's nothing to worry yourself over, young one." He tried to dissuade her. "What is your name?"

"My name's Stephanie. I'm from LazyTown."

The old man and his hooded companions exchanged glances, muttering to themselves as Stephanie looked on somewhat confused. It was clear to her now that both CrazyTown and HazyTown were totally unaware of the existence of LazyTown.

"Did you say LazyTown?" A man with a scar on his face asked.

Stephanie nodded. "Yes."

"I thought LazyTown was destroyed in the storm."

"The storm?" Stephanie then remembered the CrazyTowners mentioning something similar earlier.

"How did you get here?" Astral asked the girl. "The wall was raised to make sure no one gets in or out."

"I took a boat along the Yawn River. There's a gap somewhere in the town's outskirts that allowed me to get in. I would show you where but the fog…"

"Yes, it's a nuisance." He interrupted her. "You can't see anything because of it and those who are brave enough to explore through the thick haze usually wind up dead or lost."

"But not you!" A younger man said admirably. "You survived and found your way here!"

"Yeah…" Stephanie shyly chuckled. "Only because I was chased away by a bunch of bats."

"Why have you come here all alone?" Asked Astral.

"I'm looking for the Trinity crystal in this town. Do you know where I can find it?"

"Of course. But why are you looking for it?"

Stephanie sighed and decided to explain. "My home has been taken over by an evil tyrant, who claims to be the founder of LazyTown. But the guy's so young-looking and the town was founded over a century ago. I don't believe him."

"But?" He asked, suspecting a hint of doubt.

"But his magic amulet seems to be the only logical explanation for everything. He's turned my uncle into stone, he's placed everyone under a lazy spell and my friends are trying to find the 3rd Trinity crystal as we speak. I need that other crystal so I can combine the LazyTown one with the other I found in CrazyTown so I can break his spell."

"And do you really think that will work?" 

"It has to. There's no other way to stop him that I can think of."

Astral gave his companions another look and nodded. "This amulet you speak of. What does it look like?"

Stephanie leaned back on the bedpost and thought for a moment. "It's round… it's gold… and it has a green gem in the center."

"Earth..." Astral thought aloud.

"Huh?" Stephanie overheard him.

After a long moment of silence, the old man pulled his hood back over his face and turned to walk away. "Follow me, Stephanie."

As the men in cloaks hurdled out the door, Stephanie shrugged and grabbed her belongings as she stood up from bed. "Okay… let's see what other trouble I'm gonna get myself into."

♠♠♠♠♠

Remus walked along the streets of LazyTown with a trio of his rock minions closely behind him. The streets were filled with lazy people lying about the place and groaning in pain much to the man's sick joy.

"Look at them, my rock children! They're so lazy, they've neglected to take care of themselves!" He giggled idiotically. "Trash on the streets, tumbleweeds beginning to roll around and children kept in their rooms where they should be! How I love it!"

The evil dictator wrapped himself around Milford's crumbling figure and grinned evilly at his pocket watch. "Look at that! You've got about 5 hours until this place goes to the dogs and when that happens, LazyTown will officially be mine forever!"

Milford's stone cold face remained still as Remus let out another shrilly laugh. After giving him an exaggerated smooch on the cheek, Remus then mimicked Stephanie's cries from the day before. "_Uncle Milford! Uncle Milford! No!_ Hahaha! What a crazy little girl! And you know what? I'm glad she's gone! With her out of the picture, no one can stop me!"

♠♠♠♠♠

Inside the clubhouse, as far away from Remus' prying eyes as possible, Stingy and Ziggy unloaded a whole mess of lumber onto the grass while Pixel constantly eyeballed his wrist scanner.

"They're not coming, Pixel." Trixie sighed impatiently.

"They've got to." Pixel said almost furiously. "If the spell really was broken, then they've got to help us. It's the only way to overthrow Remus for good."

"What about Sportacus?" The girl turned to see the hero in blue snoozing on the wooden floor. "Why hasn't the spell worn off on _him_?"

"Because he wasn't there when we danced the spell out of their system." Pixel smacked himself on the head. "I knew I forgot something!"

"Hey, you guys!" A weak Ziggy called out to them from below. "Stingy's doing it again!"

"It's _my_ lumber!" The sleepy-eyed brat whined. "Get your own!"

"Will you two knock it off!?" Trixie stomped. "We don't have time for this!"

"Why don't _you_ help us!?"

"I am! I'm making sure you two dinguses do your job!"

"Oh, yeah…"

While they bickered, Pixel looked out the glassless pane and noticed something peculiar heading their way. Running a quick diagnostic of the area, the gizmo guy jumped for joy and hollered over to his friends.

"You guys!" He smiled enthusiastically. "It worked! They're coming!" 

"No way!" Trixie gasped as she shoved the boy aside and looked out the window. "Hey, you're right! They're coming!"

"Hey, they are! They really are!" Ziggy jumped up and down.

Stingy, however, remained suspicious. "And you're sure Remus won't notice a thing?"

Pixel nodded. "Oh, yeah. He's off in an imaginary land right now and when we're ready, he's gonna suffer the cruel hand of reality." 

The people of LazyTown marched along the grass as they entered the park and waved at their young friends as the other children hurried over to their side. Sportacus awoke from all the commotion and stuck his head out, curious about the situation.

"Thanks for coming." Pixel sighed with relief.

"What's this all about, son?" The boy's father asked. "It's not another one of your games, is it?"

He shrugged. "Well, sort of. Except the stakes are real and the only way to win this one, is by working together as a team." 

"A covert unit!" Stingy added.

"A militia!" Ziggy said.

"An army!" Trixie said passionately as she dangled from the tree ladder. "We've got to march over to that black tower and reclaim this town of ours! Now that we've broken that blond doofus' spell, we can make him beg for mercy easily!"

"But how are we gonna do that?" One of the townspeople asked.

Pixel held his arms out and pointed out at all the building tools. "We've got the tools, we've got the equipment and we've got the means for a civil action. But if Remus doesn't want to do things the easy way, then we'll give him what he wants." 

"Hey, what _does_ he want?" Stingy tugged at his friend's shirt sleeve.

"A war."

♠♠♠♠

The old man and his followers carried their torches as they walked along the marshy plains of HazyTown. The fog was thicker and the air was colder but none of this seemed to bother the pink-haired girl as she desperately kept close to the hooded beings. As they passed by the town, which looked like a surreal valley of medieval archetypes, several residents gave them fearful looks and dirty stares then quickly huddled back into their homes.

"Don't mind them, young one." Astral said. "They fear the outside simply because they have been kept in here for as long as they can remember. There's security within these walls. Outside is the unknown. That, which I'm afraid to say, is the sum of all their fears."

"How did it get like this?" Stephanie asked as they all headed for a bridge.

"The hero known as Number 9 came here after failing a mission. He felt lost and betrayed only to himself. Apparently, he attempted to save a baby that had fallen from his mother's grasp and failed to do so. The result in which, the man and the child's parents watched in horror as he drifted along the Yawn River and into oblivion."

"That's so sad." Stephanie looked down as she crossed the bridge with the hoods.

"He came to us a broken man and sought out self-forgiveness. He learned to do so at an uneasy pace but managed it nevertheless. It was then when a wizard from our ranks stumbled upon one of the 4 medallions of the elements and used it against us for his evil deeds."

Stephanie grew even more intrigued. "Medallion of the elements?"

"Four ancient amulets that enable its user to summon one of the elements, pending which stone is in place, and provide the ability of mind control, hypnosis and teleportation."

"What happened?"

"Number 9 bravely came to our rescue and defeated the evil wizard. But upon doing so, the hero became obsessed with the power of the amulet and forged a terrible bond with it. He fell into madness and renounced his heroic duties, thus turning over to the side of evil himself."

Stephanie thought for a moment. "So… what did he do next?"

"A group of priests such as ourselves confronted the hero and demanded the amulet back so we could bury it beneath the earth forever. He refused and fled with the amulet. And to make sure we could not follow him, he raised this towering wall you see before you and kept us locked in here forever."

"That explains the wall." Stephanie nodded along. "But what about all this fog?" "As I said before. He placed a curse on us. Forever to be cast in darkness with no clarity, no escape and an unforgiving everlasting life."

"Everlasting life?" The pink-haired girl gasped. "How old are you?"

"Older than you can imagine, my dear. The way you see me is how I appeared then. Before the hero went rogue. As to what happened to him remains uncertain."

Stephanie and the hooded men finally crossed the bridge as they approached a bulging cave with a severely dark entrance. The old man pointed at the mouth of the cavern as Stephanie slowly walked towards it, looking back every now and then.

"What is this?" She asked.

"It is the Cave of Despair." The scarred priest responded. "There you will face your worst fears and inner demons before you reach that which you desire the most."

"Oh, is that all?" Stephanie said almost sarcastically. "I thought it would be something scary or creepy."

"Take warning, child." Astral said. "Inside you will face more than just your inner psyche. You will be faced with a creature that is so inexplicably vile and horrendous that even the bravest of souls has cowered before it. He is the creature known only as… _Bob_."

"Okay…" Stephanie shook her head, almost laughing. "I think I can handle Bob. Yeah. Good old Bob! How ya doing, Bob? Good with the kids, are ya Bob?" She laughed some more. "Look, is there any chance one of you want to go with me?" 

She turned and noticed no one was there anymore. Upon hearing a muffled howl from within the cave, Stephanie shuddered and took a few steps back.

"Okay, what did I just get myself into?" She asked herself, terrified now of the horrors that awaited her.

The young girl paced back and forth, trying to come down to a decision as the fog rolled along slowly. After much deliberation and self-debating, Stephanie firmly balled up her fists and approached the entrance with ease.

"I can do this…" She said to herself. "I can do this… it's no problem at all. Oh, man… I was right. Creatures in the dark _are_ scary!"


	17. The Cave Of Despair

**Chapter 17**

Stephanie trekked through the cave, her flashlight leading the path ahead of her. She cringed at the bats, which were screeching in the distance along with the echoing drips of water. She breathed heavily but slowly as she continued down the path. So far she could only see pillars of rock, puddles of water and a small patch of fog that managed to enter through the cracks. She then turned her head to see that the entrance was now gone and that the only way out is through the path that awaited her.

"What was I thinking?" She asked herself. "This crystal better be here."

Slowly, more and more fog entered the dark cavern and surrounded itself around the girl in pink. Waving her flashlight frantically, Stephanie tried to find a way through but to no avail.

"Hey!" She panicked. "That's not cool! What's going on, man!?" 

In a matter of seconds, the fog separated and eventually swirled around a smooth path that seemed to lead across to the ends of the cave.

"Whoa, cool…" She moved her hand along the swirling fog.

Taking the risk rather than going back, Stephanie walked through the foggy vortex and headed down the trail that was laid before her. Upon doing so, she could hear several voices echoing in the distance as a flurry of images appeared in every misty cloud.

"_You will fail_…" One of the voices hissed as it rolled along the caves.

"Who was that?" Stephanie looked around.

"_Your uncle is doomed_…" Another voice screeched.

"Hey, cut it out!"

"_LazyTown doesn't stand a chance_…"

"_You're a failure_…"

"_There is no escape from your fate_…"

"_Remus shall prevail_…"

"_You're no hero_…"

"Stop it!" She shouted as an image of herself appeared before her.

Stephanie slowly approached what appeared to be her crouching down on the floor, cradling a pile of broken rock. The other Stephanie sobbed and sniffled as she held the broken head of her beloved uncle, who was now a shattered statue.

"Uncle Milford…" The false Stephanie whimpered.

The fog swirled around some more and projected another image. Stephanie then saw a dark and gloomy LazyTown, where her friends were amongst those lining up across the street in chains.

Remus walked along the group of people and turned them to stone with a flick of his wrist. With an evil laugh, Remus turned to Stephanie and winked. "How do ya like me, _now_ Pinky? Ha ha!"

Stephanie's doppelganger then rushed over to the evil founder and attempted to fight him but was immediately turned to stone herself. With a simple push, Remus managed to shatter Stephanie's stone body and continued tormenting the rest of the LazyTowners.

With a gasp, the real Stephanie backed away and put her hands over her face, trying not to look at anymore of the painful illusion. She shook her head and wafted the fog frantically, which allowed for the false premonition to fade away.

"_It's your fault_…" Another voice rang inside her head.

"No!" Stephanie shook her head.

"_It's your fault your uncle turned to stone_…"

"_You betrayed the principles of the very town you live in_…"

"I didn't!"

"_You've doomed them all_…"

"No! I didn't!" She shook her head, trying to drown out the noise. Soon, more voices and more images surrounded the path and flowed right through the young girl as she watched in horror.

"What's going on?" The pink-haired girl questioned as the sights and sounds finally merged together and formed an entire world of their own.

Stephanie no longer found herself inside the Cave of Despair but in a town that resembled a mid 19th century English village. Horse drawn carriages pulling men in top hats and women in round, frilly dresses were amongst the bizarre out-of-date sights Stephanie saw.

"I'm outside the cave?" She scratched her head as she looked around. "Then where am I? Or… _when_ am I?"

Just then, a small explosion emanating from the park sent several people running across the street in panic and alarm. With an evil laugh, a familiar looking old man in a dark robe arose from the ground and held a golden amulet in his hand. With a quick flick, the amulet then unleashed a set of green bolts that caused huge mounds of rock to shoot upward from the ground.

"All will bow before me!" The evil wizard exclaimed. "HazyTown is no longer safe for you!" 

As the people ran, one of them charged right through Stephanie but the young girl was unharmed. Now freaking out by the incident, Stephanie checkered herself and noticed she was still in one piece.

"Hey!" She shrieked. "He walked right through me!"

It was now apparent to the young girl that she couldn't be seen, heard or felt by anyone in what appeared to be HazyTown in its heyday. A group of monks in red robes rushed the children from the orphanage into the nearby church for cover as the evil wizard continued his rampage.

"Come children!" One of the monks said. "You'll be safe here!"

"Yes…" The wizard hissed. "Run away. I like a good challenge."

Stephanie's eyes widened in surprise and shock as she finally realized why the old wizard looked familiar to her. "Wait a minute. Astral! Is that you!?"

Obviously the old man couldn't hear her as he continued raising several chunks of earth from the ground and hurling them across town. With another blast from the amulet, the trees came to life and raised their foundations from the ground. Obeying their new master, they then stomped along the city streets and snatched every civilian they could find.

"Astral, stop it!" Stephanie pleaded, knowing he couldn't hear her. "Great, I'm talking to a memory… wait a minute. A memory?"

Stephanie then realized she was in HazyTown of the past, where the events Astral had explained to her earlier were actually unfolding before her very eyes. It was then when a blur of red and orange leaped into action and helped escort several HazyTowners to safety.

"Wow…" Stephanie said in admiration as she watched the hero work. "Can it be him?"

The silver 9 patched on the man's red armored chest plate answered the young girl's question. The man hurrying people to safety was in fact the legendary Number 9. After getting as much people out of the way as possible, the hero hurried over to Astral and pointed his finger at him.

"That's enough, Astral!" He warned. "Don't make me hurt you!"

The old wizard scoffed. "You? Hurt _me_!? Ha!"

"I mean it, Astral!"

Stephanie squinted her eyes a bit and tried to place the young hero's face but couldn't quite catch on. "He looks familiar too." She said curiously.

Dodging several rock pillars and living trees, Number 9 managed to front-flip his way over to the evil wizard and grabbed him by the collar.

"Hey! Let go of me!" The old man shouted.

"Not until you give me the amulet!" Nine demanded.

"Never!"

Tightening his grip on the old man, the hero raised his fist and stared deeply into his eyes. "This is your last chance, Astral. Give me the amulet."

Fearing for his safety, the old man conceded and handed his nemesis the magic amulet. Using the power gem himself, Nine then reversed Astral's damage and returned everything back to its normal state. He then grabbed hold of the old man again and shoved him into a nearby vat of tar.

"Way to go, Nine." Stephanie smiled as the fog rolled in and wiped away the view.

The eerie mist then skipped ahead and brought Stephanie to an epic battle that seemed to take place in the heart of HazyTown. Astral and a group of hooded monks surrounded a mysterious figure in black as the young girl watched from behind a nearby fountain.

"It's over, Nine." Astral aimed a pointed cross at the man. "You've become obsessed with the power of the amulet. It's practically driven you insane." 

"You're one to talk, Astral." Nine's ragged voice spoke through the black cloak.

"I'm a changed man now. I've realized my mistake and I am willing to repay my debt to you by helping…"

"I don't need your help!" The ex-hero trembled the ground with the medallion and backed away with ease.

"What are you doing, man!?" Astral called out as the ground before them started to shake even harder.

"I'm getting away from all of you and forming a town of my own! One where they will listen to me and obey my every rule! I will be adored by many and you can't stop me, Astral!"

"We've been betrayed, Astral." One of the monks bowed his head.

Another monk nodded. "What will we do now?"

Stephanie gasped as she witnessed the rising of the black wall, surrounding every part of HazyTown and blocking it from the rest of the world. Once the wall was completed, 9 stood at the top and laughed maniacally.

"There!" He shouted. "And to further ensure you can't follow me…"

Tilting the amulet at an angle, the entire town was then overshadowed by a blanket of thick cloudy fog. The ex-hero could then feel the magic getting out of control as he held onto the golden disc with both hands and watched helplessly as the winds picked up and an entire storm brewed within the green gem.

"No!" Nine struggled to pull the amulet away. With all his might, the hero managed to regain control of the magic beam and swung the powerful storm into another direction.

Stephanie turned her head to see the powerful tempest head into the direction of CrazyTown much to her realization. "CrazyTown…" She simply said.

With the fog now blocking out the sun and smothering the peaceful town, Astral and his allies bowed their heads in defeat as the former superhero shook his head and scoffed.

"I hereby curse you, HazyTown!" The man said as he lowered his black hood, revealing his true face.

Stephanie's jaw dropped as she immediately discovered Number 9's identity. "No… No!"

It was then when the illusion ended and returned Stephanie back to the confines of the Cave of Despair. Breathing heavily from disbelief, Stephanie leaned against a nearby rock and tried to grasp the horrible truth she had just learned.

"Oh no… this can't be…" She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. "Remus is Number 9."


	18. From Latibær To LazyTown

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: All right, I'm gonna try something a little different here. Maybe it'll help clear things up a bit. **_

**Chapter 18**

_This is the personal log of Remus Tard, formerly known as the hero "Number 9". _

_I came from a distant land to serve and protect those who needed my help, ambitiously following in the footsteps of my predecessors. The world was young then and so was I. My first tour of duty took me to a center of interconnected towns known only as the Trinity. I would spend a few years in each town to see what I could do to help and then move on. _

_The first town I visited was called Latibær. There, the people were warm and kind to each other as well as to traveling strangers such as me. They had a democratic system of leadership, electing a mayor every few years to run the town. The adults were usually sensible and reliable without having to keep track of who's doing what wrong and who should be held responsible and so forth. The children, however, were a different story. _

_They were more into the whole fitness and exercise routine, usually convincing their parents and other adult parties to join in. At the time, I gladly took part in their festivities by playing various sporting games with them, jogging the occasional mile and leading the group in a series of stretches and warm-ups before every activity. I thought I could get used to this active lifestyle until that tragic day._

_It was a Saturday, if I remember correctly, when a group of children and I were playing in the park. We ran along the grass, kicking the red rubber ball towards each other as a mother and her infant child leaned close to the lake to feed the ducks that swam there. One of the children became so obsessed with taking control of the ball, he began bullying the others around by pushing them over and stealing the ball from their reach. Putting the game on hold, I spoke to the young lad in my most gentle yet firmest tone of voice and reprimanded that he behave or else no one would play for the rest of the day._

_It was then when I heard a distant call for help and rushed off to save a young girl who had accidentally knocked into a hive of bees in her hyperactive state. Deathly allergic of the small insects, the young girl foolishly ran around in circles and screamed as I concocted a plan to rid her of the angry swarm. _

_Meanwhile, the young boy I had scolded earlier decided to further become a nuisance as he continued pushing the other children around behind my back. He kicked the ball towards them in an immature rage, hitting them upside the head with it until one of the children managed to dodge his attack. Unfortunately, the consequence was severe as the woman who was showing her child the swimming ducks suddenly found her young baby boy floating away with them._

_As I finally managed to attract the bees away from the incredibly hyperactive young girl and back to their hive, I heard the painful screams of a mother's worst fear. Like a bolt of lightning, I returned to the park and saw the young infant floating rapidly away from view and hurried up a nearby to tree to retrieve him. Despite using all my talents, my ingenuity and my quick thinking, I was unable to reach the baby in time. As I dangled from the tree's farthest branch, I could only watch in horror as the young child became engulfed by the rapids that were ahead. I had failed not only the child and his mother. But I had failed myself. _

_I decided to leave Latibær for another part of the Trinity and arrived in a place called HazyTown. Why it was named that, I do not know. There, I was taken in by a small group of monks who tried to show me an inner peace I thought I had lost and helped me learn to forgive myself for the horrible event that took place in Latibær. It wasn't an easy process but I overcame my own fears and learned to be a hero again._

_Thankfully, an evil wizard named Astral arrived in HazyTown with a magic amulet that was powered by the earth and opened up my eyes. I protected the city as he went on his magical rampage and in the end, I managed to defeat him and take away the amulet. As he spent his time in a correctional facility, I became one with the amulet and discovered a world of magic I never thought possible. _

_I knew now that what I wanted more than anything was power. And I had it in the palm of my hand. The next logical step was to overtake the town and claim it as my own but a newly reformed Astral and the order of monks confronted me in the center of town. After a lengthy battle, I knew they wouldn't give up unless I surrendered or I lay dead before them. I decided it best to flee but not before cursing the town with a giant wall that sealed it off from the rest of the world and giving those fools an immortal life to suffer through. As a gag, I blanketed the entire town with a vicious fog that would block out most of the sun and finally give meaning to HazyTown. _

_Unfortunately, I was still learning how to use the amulet and must have triggered a mystical tempest that raged from within the amulet's green gem. Deciding not destroy all of HazyTown, I aimed it away from them and sent forth the raging winds and rains to wherever it saw fit. _

_I left HazyTown in all its misty glory, crossed the Yawn River and arrived in CrazyTown. It was a strange place. Properly named, too. The people were kind but insane. The environment was strange as well. I had concluded that the storm I had sent away from HazyTown ended up here and broke the road that led to this spaghetti western of a town. In addition to breaking the road, anyone who was native to CrazyTown could not pass the road nor could they fix it. I was befuddled as to how my magic was capable of such a thing but I decided it best to just leave them there. _

_One year later, I returned to Latibær a changed man. I had renounced my heroic duties and denied responsibility for saving people. Those days were over. I asserted myself amongst the citizens and proclaimed myself as mayor. My first act of duty was to build and enforce a new set of principles for my town to live by. No more running. No more playing around. No more foolish games. In order to prevent horrific accidents like the one I saw, everyone had to do one simple thing. They had to be lazy._

_Naturally, I renamed the town and founded a new one that fit my vision. I called it: LazyTown. Things went well for the first few years. Books were made to record the founding of my great town and the genius behind it. I drained the lake where the infant drifted away and leveled the ground out, placing a fountain in its place. The Lazy Fountains, I called it._

_Then I was called away. Back to where I came from. The council of representatives had gotten wind of my actions and stripped me of my number and relieved me of my duties as hero. I was much too obliged and didn't give them the pleasure of seeing me grieve. The council then brought forth a man and his son before them. It was decided that the man's son would take my place one day and watch over LazyTown, continuing on as "Number 10". _

_  
I looked deep into the young boy's bright blue eyes and scoffed. The council then gave me a choice. I either hand over the magic amulet for them to destroy or I leave LazyTown forever and live in exile for the rest of my life. Deciding not to give up my power, yet realizing I was still learning how to use it and therefore unable to resist them properly, I chose a life of eternal exile. _

_But not before I paid one last visit to my great town. I set up an election for a new mayor to take over and unbeknownst to the council, I built an underground system of communication. I knew every mayor LazyTown would eventually have needed a way of communicating with me in case things got wrong. I built the main chute inside the mayor's office and instructed my successor how to use it and to inform the next mayor of its uses and so forth. _

_The first few years of my exile saw me living in a small cabin in the mountains and practicing my magical abilities. I received a letter from every mayor that came into office almost every week. As the years went by, I noticed the magical aura I had possessed prevented me from aging through a natural course. I remained young and limber but I knew I would never use it for saving people again._

_Months turned into years. And years into generations. The letters stopped coming. It was as if they forgot all about me. For a moment, I thought it was good news. They had learned to adjust without my guidance and wisdom anymore. I was sadly mistaken, however, as I received what appeared to be the first letter in over 80 years. A man by the name of Rotten described to me the horrors that befell my beloved town. A hyperactive sports elf and a little pink demon had corrupted the town's youth and betrayed my principles. He claimed I was his only hope. I had no choice but to return._

_As I write this, my final page in exile, I am preparing to head out and reclaim that which is rightfully mine. I only hope that I am successful in my journey and that so-called 'hyperactive sports elf' isn't who I think it is. And now, I must depart._

_Signed,_

_Remus Tard._

"Sportacus." Stephanie said as the events before her faded away in the fog. "He was that little boy. Remus met him before."

The young girl moved through the fog as it died down a bit. It formed into another path, which showed Stephanie where to go next.

"Down there?" She asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. She shrugged and moved along.

In the shadows of the cave, a mysterious creature stalked the pink cheerleader in total silence. It crawled along the rocky pillars and maneuvered its way along the spikes without letting her become aware of its presence just yet.

"This place is creepy." Stephanie said to herself as she continued walking through the misty tunnel. "I hope I find that crystal soon."

She was now reaching towards the end of the cave when she heard a small rumble coming from behind her. The creature was now making his presence known.

"Hello?" She looked around. No one. "Is anybody there?"

She heard another rumble. This time it was louder and the ground began to shake much to her horror. She quickly turned around and waved her flashlight about, trying to see what was causing all the noise but to no avail. Just then, a pair of glowing red eyes set its sights on the girl in pink as she began to shake.

"Oh no…" Stephanie quivered.

"_Hello, little girl_…" A raspy voice hissed softly. "_What'ssss your name_?"

"St-St-Stephanie…" She stuttered.

"_Hello, Sssstephanie_… _My name issss_…"

"Let me guess… you must be Bob."


	19. Bob & The Amazing Technicolor Dream Fur

**Chapter 19**

Stephanie squinted as she attempted to get a better look at the creature known as Bob. She slowly raised her flashlight and moved it around until the glowing red eyes suddenly vanished. Along came a cheery, fuzzy pink bunny rabbit hopping towards the pink girl with a big smile and wide, cartoonish blue eyes.

"Aww…" Stephanie tilted her head. "How cute!"

The little pink bunny moved closer until Stephanie was in reach. Leaning closely, Stephanie pet the rabbit's soft head until the animal was comfortable enough to cuddle with her.

"You're not so scary, are you?" The pink-haired girl giggled as the rabbit sniffed around her face. "You're a cute little thing!"

"Oh yeah?" The rabbit said in gruff voice. "Yer not too bad lookin' yerself, sweet-cheeks!"

"Aah!" She screamed as she dropped the rabbit on the floor.

"Hey! Watch it! I just had my coat cleaned!"

Stephanie backed away into another part of the cave as Bob dusted himself off. The pink rabbit then coughed up some phlegm and lit a cigar much to Stephanie's disgust.

"I take it back. You're not cute. You're disgusting!" She grimaced.

"You just keep tellin' yerself that, all right?" He chuckled. "Now what's a gal like youse doin' in this joint?"

"I'm looking for something."

Bob rolled his eyes back and slapped his forehead. "Let me guess. You're here ta soich yer inner self and cleanse da demons outta yer system, am I right?"

Stephanie gave him a confused look. "I already did that… didn't I?"

"Oh ya did, huh? Well that saves me lotsa time!" He took a puff from his cigar.

"I'm confused. About… everything. This cave, the images I saw, where I'm going and most definitely the sight of a chubby pink rabbit smoking a cigar!"

The rabbit then coughed mid-smoke. "Whoa, wait a minute! Who ya callin' chubby, _pinky_!?" "Look who's talking, Mr. Cottontail!"

"All right, that's it! Them's fighting woids!"

Bob hopped around Stephanie, his fists ready to go but the young girl just sighed and lifted him up by the ears. Unwilling to yield, the rabbit uselessly swung his little arms about until he eventually tired himself out.

"I can't believe Astral said I should be afraid of you." Stephanie shook her head.

"I just paid him to make that stuff up! It makes me sound… I don't know. _Tough_, I guess." The rabbit spat on the ground. "Youse gonna lets me go now?"

"I guess." Stephanie complied. "What are you doing in this place anyway?"

"What da ya think? I guards the Trinity Crystal here!"

"The Trinity Crystal?" Stephanie's face lit up. "Can you take me to it?"

"Why should I? You called me chubby!" He crossed his arms offensively.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I've just been so frustrated lately. First this new guy comes to my town and turns my uncle into stone. Then he places everyone under a lazy spell and then I get attacked by a bunch of crazy chickens and get chased out of CrazyTown because I said the chicken comes before the egg!"

The rabbit choked up on his cigar again. "You mean it don't!?"

"What? Oh, I don't know! But then I hitch a ride on some crazy old guy's boat and fall down a waterfall and I don't even know if he made it out alive or not! And now I'm walking through this cave, going on some kind of head trip and talking to a rabbit who sounds a lot like Burt Young!"

"Ya gotta problem with Boit Young?"

"No."

"And anyway, whatcha need the crystal for? It don't belong to youse!"

"It's the only way to save my home and make everything right again. Please, Bob. I need your help."

The rabbit looked deep into the young girl's eyes and could feel the desperation flowing within her. Flicking his cigar away, the rabbit smiled at the young girl and hopped over to a dark corner of the cave.

"Bob?" Stephanie called out to him.

Just then, a shining beam of light blasted through the shadows and poked a hole through the walls of the cave. Stephanie turned her head and could see an exit that led back into town. Following the light, Stephanie slowly made her way out of the cave and stumbled upon an old oak tree, where the fog was dangling from it like a sheet.

"Whoa…" The pink-haired girl ran her hand along the old tree as the fog shifted in place.

The light beam returned from the cave and shot itself towards the heart of the tree, where a hole began to burn through the bark. After the gap had completed, another shine began to emanate from inside the tree. Stephanie reached in and pulled out a small, golf-ball sized crystal as it blinked slowly, almost like a pulse.

"I found it." Stephanie whispered to herself.

Just then, the ground began to shake as Stephanie grabbed hold of one of the tree's branches for support. A crack then formed along the dirty road as the fog fled into the magical cave much to Stephanie's surprise. In no time at all, the small earthquake brought down the entire cave as the fog shifted away and returned to the oak tree as Stephanie shielded herself from the falling debris. Once the cave was reduced into nothing more than a pile of rock, Stephanie made her way over the mound and headed back into HazyTown.

"Bob?" She called out again. "Bob, are you there?"

Gently sliding down a rocky patch, Stephanie kept her eyes open for the small rabbit but could find no trace of him. By the time she had reached the bridge that led to where the cave once stood, Astral and his followers were already there waiting for her.

"Astral!" Stephanie ran to the old man with the crystal in her hand. "I did it! I found the Trinity crystal!"

"Then your town is as good as saved." The old man smiled.

"Why didn't you tell me Remus was Number 9?"

"I had to let you discover the truth on your own. It was the only way I could confirm my suspicions. Remus Tard was Number 9. But the power of the earth amulet proved to be too much for him. He was seduced by its dark magic and fell into a world of evil. He was beyond saving."

Stephanie looked back across the bridge. "I don't think Bob made it out alive."

"I don't think he was ever alive to begin with. But not to worry. He'll be back."

"A rabbit, Astral?" She gave the old man a funny look. "Are you kidding me?"

He shrugged and gave her a smile. "What can I say? He's quirky."

"But he _is_ okay?"

"Of course. Now you must return home, Stephanie. Confront this tyrant and save your beloved LazyTown from his evil grasp. You have the power, Stephanie. You have the will. And with it, anything can happen."

Stephanie nodded as she placed the 2nd crystal into her backpack. "You're right, Astral. Now how do I get out of here?"

Suddenly, one of the monks stepped forward and raised his hand into the air. "I'll take care of it!"

Astral and his companions exchanged glances for a moment. "Who are you? I don't seem to recognize you."

The mysterious stranger stammered for a bit. "My name's Rob—I mean, _Raymond_! Yeah, that's it! Raymond! Geez, it's like everyone seems to like that name…"

"What is your business with this young girl?" One of the established monks asked.

"I'm gonna take her home! Is that cool? You cool? Huh?" He shifted his eyes around.

Stephanie glanced at the strange monk for a moment and then suddenly realized who it was. "Oh no! It's Robbie Rot…"

"Okay, let's go!" The monk put his hand over Stephanie's mouth and carried her away.

As the two crossed the bridge and headed away from HazyTown, Astral waved goodbye to his young friend. "Good luck, Stephanie. And Godspeed."

Once the two had returned to the Yawn River and outside of HazyTown, Robbie set Stephanie on the ground and removed his hood. There, a brand new motorboat was sitting in the lake with the initials R.R. etched to the side.

"Robbie!" The young girl punched the man's arm.

"Ow!" He whimpered. "Hey, watch it!"

"What are you doing here!? Remus sent you, didn't he!?"

"No! Remus doesn't even know I'm here!" He shifted his eyes again. "He's gone out of control! He won't let anyone do anything anymore! He won't even let me take a nap! He's got it so we take shifts! _Shifts_! I mean, what do I look like!? A clock!?"

Stephanie paused for a moment. "So wait a minute. You're here to stop him too? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"What are you talking about? I've _been_ helping you!"

Another pause and Stephanie gasped at her sudden conclusion. "You're Sharkey!"

Robbie nodded. "Uh-huh!"

"Dusty the wind rassler?"

"Him too!"

Stephanie leaned against a nearby tree, rubbing her forehead. "You mean to tell me you've been helping me along this whole time and didn't tell me? Why not?"

"I didn't want to run the risk of Remus finding out! He could have turned me to stone!"

"So how'd you get out of LazyTown without him noticing?"

"I sort of maybe, more-or-less, left a note behind saying you kidnapped me and forged your signature."

Stephanie then burst out laughing. "_Me_? Kidnap _you_!?"

Robbie chuckled nervously. "Yeah…. I guess that _is_ kind of funny. But it worked!"

"Wait a minute, Robbie. Back in LazyTown, Pixel transported me to the crossroads so I wouldn't have to spend 5 hours heading for CrazyTown. How did you get there before me?"

"I used the underground tunnel system! My place is loaded with pipes, right? So all I did was find out which pipes led to where and bingo! I wound up at the crossroads before you did!"

"And met with me back in CrazyTown under the guise of Sharkey." Stephanie finally concluded.

"Yup! Well, kid! Looks like we're in this together. Now c'mon! Hop inside the boat and we'll take the shortcut _away _from the waterfall this time!"

Stephanie hesitated as she watched Robbie get inside the boat. "How can I trust you? After everything you've done in the past?"

The villain sighed as he started the engine and leaned against his seat. "Look, kid. I wouldn't trust me either. Really. But this thing's a lot bigger than what's going on between you, me and Sportakook. I mean, look at me! I've always nagged about how things have to be lazy and what do I do? I spend 2 days chasing after you, making sure you don't get hurt and making sure you wind up in the right town! Now that's a lot of work! So maybe if you can find it in that dancing pink heart of yours, you'll learn to trust me at least this _one_ time!"

Stephanie sighed and gave the man a warm smile. "All right then. Let's go save our home."

♠♠♠♠♠

Back in LazyTown, everyone was busy building and crafting an arsenal of various objects from wood and steel right in the middle of the park. Pixel and Trixie overlooked the entire process as Stingy stocked up on things that he claimed were his while Ziggy welded together several pieces of sheet metal together. Sportacus, meanwhile, remained inside the clubhouse with a strange feeling building up inside of him.

Something about watching the people of LazyTown coming together and building something so massive yet so mysterious left him yearning to be a part of the action. He didn't know what it was and perhaps it was the effects of Remus' lazy spell wearing off but all he wanted to do was get in there and help.

Pixel looked up at the treehouse and noticed Sportacus fidgeting about, deciding whether or not to join in. With a grin, Pixel grabbed Trixie's attention and pointed out Sportacus' predicament.

"You think it's wearing off?" He asked her.

"Oh, I hope so. We need him more than ever."

Pixel then walked along the field as everyone hammered, sawed and drilled everything in place. What they were making would soon catch Remus and his minions by surprise, provided that Pixel's distraction would hold out long enough.

"Come on, everyone!" Pixel called out. "Pick up the pace! We can do this! It's almost 3:00! Stingy, hand me that 2x4!"

"But it's mine!" The brat whined.

Trixie watched in awe as everyone continued working while she raised a net of supplies over to the clubhouse. "This is amazing, Pixel. I hope we can do it."

The gizmo guy nodded. "Oh we will. This is one fight we can't lose. Remus better get ready for the biggest butt kicking of his life."

_**UP NEXT:**_

_**It's the epic conclusion I've been longing to post! The people of LazyTown finally rise up against the tyranny that has taken over! And expect a few surprises in the midst of all of it! **_

_**The moment we've all been waiting for: STEPHANIE vs REMUS**_

_**Am I bad? Yes, I'm bad.**_


	20. Rise Of The Trinity

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's a long chapter, folks. Bear with me here.**_

**Chapter 20**

Remus leaned back in his throne and gently tapped on one of the rails, puzzled as to why he had this strange feeling inside him. As he gazed upon all the residents of LazyTown, scattered about the streets like corpses, he couldn't help but feel something still wasn't right.

"I don't get it." Remus shook his head. "They're being lazy right on cue but something still feels kind of…"

"Funny?" Ms. Busybody asked. "Out of place, maybe? Hmm?"

The dictator nodded. "Yes, something like that. I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Stephanie will be back, Remus. Wherever she's gone, I know she'll be back to save LazyTown and stop you."

The blond man chuckled and shook his head. "Even if that creepy little pixie came back with an army, I doubt they'd stand a chance against me."

"Sportacus would…"

"It doesn't matter!" He snapped.

Bessie just rolled her eyes. "Oy… we're back to _this_ old routine."

Just then, Remus noticed something strange from the corner of his eye. He got out of his throne and leaned against the railing of the black tower to get a better glimpse.

"What is that?" He whispered to himself.

The man waved his hand about, as if trying to reach it, but noticed something was out of balance. Then, using his medallion, he aimed at the corner between Pixel's and Ziggy's house and blasted a green energy beam. It was then when a wall of static smeared itself over both the houses and Remus' suspicions began to unfold.

"What the… a hologram?" He aimed the medallion towards several townspeople and blasted them all as well, revealing more and more static windows.

Bessie's eyes widened as a grin spread across her face. "Pixel."

"I've been duped!" Remus shouted as he blasted the entire town around him.

Soon, Remus, Bessie and the army of rock giants were surrounded in a room of pure static until the evil one broke through the holographic barrier.

"No…" Remus growled as his eyes gazed on the empty city streets. "NO!"

♠♠♠♠♠

Pixel and the others oversaw the completion of the townspeople's project just as the sound of Remus' screams filled the air.

"Uh-oh." Ziggy shuddered. "That can't be good."

"He broke through the projections." Pixel gasped. "The visors must have had a glitch during its run."

Just then, a distant buzzing noise could be heard coming from beyond the city limits. Everyone turned and squinted at the sight of what appeared to be a biker hurrying his way towards the LazyTown park.

"Who is that?" Stingy asked. "And where did he get that cool bike?"

The motorcyclist jumped a small mound and eventually entered the park with a sharp turn, revealing a smaller passenger riding behind him. Removing her helmet, Stephanie waved at everyone with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, guys!" She happily greeted.

"Stephanie!" The kids all cheered.

As Robbie removed his helmet, everyone panicked once again and ganged up on the man by knocking him and the bike over. Once he was down, they all started to push him around and whack him upside the head with whatever they could find.

"Hey!" The villain whined. "I'm on your side!"

"Wait, you guys!" Stephanie intervened. "He's telling the truth! He's helping us this time!"

Everyone was now dumbfounded. Robbie stood back up on his feet and dusted himself off, feigning a smile and muttering obscenities under his breath.

"What do you mean Robbie's on our side?" A doubtful Trixie eyed the man. "He's never done anything good for LazyTown!"

Stephanie then held out the two Trinity crystals. "He helped me find these!"

"Whoa, cool!" Pixel scanned the two gems with his device. "They really _do_ exist!"

"Uh-huh. Did you get the LazyTown crystal?"

Pixel and Trixie exchanged glances then shook their heads disappointingly, much to Stephanie's dismay.

"You mean you didn't?"

Pixel took a deep breath then tried to explain. "Well, you see… the reason is--"

Ziggy jumped in and took over in his usual panicky manner. "Oh, Stephanie! We tried to find the crystal but couldn't find it anywhere! Trixie and Pixel looked in the museum but they were the wrong ones and then these big rock thingies came after them and then when we went to the Lazy Fountains, we thought they would be there for sure but we were wrong again and then those rock things took us to Remus' tower and there he took away my candy and I haven't even been the same since and then Sportacus won't stop being lazy but won't stop being hyper either and now I'm left talking very fast without pausing or ending my sentences the way I should be because this is all too scary for me and I don't like being scared and he still has all my candy and without my candy--"

"Whoa, Ziggy!" She covered the young boy's mouth. "I think you'd better calm down before you hurt yourself."

"Or before _I _do." Robbie rolled his eyes, noticing some of the kids giving him a dirty look. "Umm… just kidding? Heheh…"

Stephanie paced around and thought for a moment as she held the two crystals in each of her hands. "There's got to be a way of finding that other crystal."

Trixie gave her friend a concerned look. "Look, Pinky… I think we have to consider the fact that LazyTown doesn't have a crystal."

"But it has to! The other two towns had one!"

Then by a strange twist of fate, Stephanie gently tapped the two crystals together, which enabled them to stick together and illuminate with a pulsating pink light. Stephanie then felt the crystals pulling her away and forcing her to point in another direction.

"Stephanie?" Ziggy whimpered. "What's happening?"

The pink-haired girl struggled against the weight of the crystals. "I don't know, Ziggy! It's like they're trying to show me something!"

Once Stephanie was turned in the direction of the clubhouse, the magic crystals shot out a solid beam of pink energy inside the wooden shack. The magic beam then pulled out a very confused Sportacus as he shimmered with the crystals' energy.

"Wow!" Ziggy beamed. "Sportacus is a crystal!"

Stephanie shook her head. "No. I don't think that's it, Ziggy."

Just then, a very familiar sound started to go off which alarmed not only Sportacus but all of the LazyTowners as well. Looking around, Sportacus searched for the source of the noise as he started to feel this odd sensation going through his body.

"Wait a minute…" The hero in blue pondered aloud. "That beeping noise… someone… is in trouble?"

Stephanie and the others nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Sportacus! That's it!"

"I'm…" He took out the crystal, which had remained in his pocket the entire time, and gazed at its blinking light. "…I'm a…"

"A superhero?"

With a grin, Sportacus shook his head and gave the townspeople an encouraging look. "Let's just say I'm an above-average hero."

"He's back! Sportacus is back!" Ziggy jumped for joy.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie gave her friend a tight hug. "I knew you'd get Remus' spell out of your system!"

"Thanks, everyone. I'm sorry I let you down." Sportacus then handed his crystal to Stephanie. "Here, Stephanie. I think you know what to do with it."

"Well I'm not really sure. But I've got an idea."

"I know you'll figure it out." The hero then turned to Pixel and the others. "So what's the plan?"

♠♠♠♠♠

Remus stormed down the steps of the tower as his rock minions followed closely. Once they had reached the bottom, the town was completely gone. In its place was a vast peninsula of long, wavy grass and a tar pit bubbling within the center.

"Oh, great." Remus sighed. "Another hologram projection?"

A loud thud caught Remus and his goons by surprise. He turned around and saw an enormous T-Rex eyeing the group as its razor sharp teeth drooled on one of the rock men. The evil founder was unimpressed.

"Oh dear." He said mockingly. "Whatever will we do now?"

In an instant, the dinosaur bit the head off of the stone giant and caused Remus to change his mind drastically. With a whimper, he scurried off and ran through the jungles of where LazyTown used to be.

"Dinosaurs!? I don't think so!" He cried until he slammed right into a tree.

The dinosaur then gazed upon the fallen dictator as it finished up the remains of its earlier snack and growled under its breath. Sniffing around a very scared Remus, the T-Rex then let off a ferocious roar that scared off a small group of other animals.

"Oh, I don't want to die wearing polyester!" Remus whined as the dinosaur disintegrated along with all of the jungle. "Huh? Where'd it go?"

Remus and his creatures looked around to find themselves back in LazyTown and away from whatever jungle they were just in. Furious for being duped twice, Remus slammed his fist against one of his rock minions and suffered greatly for it.

"Ow!" He cried. "Stupid! Freaking! Gah!"

Remus then noticed Pixel, Trixie, Ziggy and Stingy standing in the middle of the street behind a large wooden fence. Their faces were still yet threatening but the evil founder saw right through them.

"What?" He grumbled. "You want to play with me? Huh? Do ya? You kids are in so much trouble! I think it's time to make coat racks out of all of you."

The four of them remained still and silent much to Remus discomfort. Annoyed by their refusal to talk, Remus aimed his medallion at them.

"Start talking, kiddies. Where is everybody?" He aimed towards Trixie. "You there! Little girl! Start talking! Where are they!?"

Trixie chortled then turned to Pixel. "This guy's hopeless."

He laughed. "Yeah, I know."

"Oh, so you're not gonna talk, huh?" Remus then pointed it at Stingy. "You there! Joel Hodgson look-alike! Where are they?"

Stingy just shrugged. "I don't know."

"You're lying!"

"Maybe. But at least I'm not wearing polyester!"

"Aah!" Remus tried to cover his shame. "That's it! Rock minions! Crush them!"

The giants nodded and slowly approached the children until the fence behind them separated into different parts, catching Remus by surprise. Using the boards of wood as a shield, the townspeople stood ready to fight as others wheeled out several manmade catapults from behind the corners of the buildings.

Remus stood in place and burst out laughing, amused by the people's sincerity. "Oh, that's just too funny! You honestly think you can stop me!? Oh, mercy! I haven't laughed like that since I was a little boy! Oh, thank you very much! I needed that!"

"This is your last chance, Remus." Pixel warned. "Leave LazyTown now. And don't ever come back."

The blond man scoffed. "Kid, I _am_ LazyTown! You'd be nothing without me! It's all there in the books! I'm the founder! I'm your forefather! And I can just as easily be your undoing!"

Just then, the ladder to Sportacus' airship unveiled in front of the man as the hero himself descended to the ground along with Stephanie and a very nervous Robbie Rotten.

"You're not laying a finger on them." Sportacus warned. "You'll have to get through me first."

Much to his horror, Remus noticed Robbie standing tall beside his two sworn enemies and stuck his finger out accusingly.

"Rotten!" He shrieked. "What are you doing helping them!? And after that pink juju kidnapped you!?"

Robbie just laughed. "Oh, that was just to keep you off my back! Believe me, on a normal day I wouldn't do this. But I've got my reasons for helping them!"

Remus then gave Sportacus a dirty look until he recognized the blue eyes that were staring back at him. "I know you… don't I?"

"Well, yeah!" Ziggy shouted. "You played basketball with him and made him lazy and--"

"No, that's not it!" Remus interrupted. "…I've seen you somewhere. But I can't seem to remember."

Sportacus took a step closer to the man. "If I knew you, I wouldn't have given you the chance to do what you did to this town. It was my mistake to give you a chance to leave but I'm not going to do it again."

"Oh, please." Remus snapped his fingers, causing the ground to shake.

Everyone backed away from the evil one and watched as several cracks in the ground formed a perimeter that separated Remus from the people of LazyTown. As the ground trembled even more furiously, huge spikes of rock ascended from beneath and stuck out at different angles.

"What's going on!?" Robbie yelped as he hid behind Sportacus.

"Stingy!" Pixel called out. "Go and get your things ready!"

"I'm on it! But if something happens, I want a new one!" Stingy said as he ran off.

More and more spikes shot out and intimidated the townspeople as Remus multiplied his rock giants into a full battalion, using his medallion.

"Now what was that you were saying?" Remus teased. "Something about leaving town was it? Looks like you'll just have to make me."

"Fine!" Pixel said as he spoke into a wrist communicator. "All right! Let 'em have it!"

The people of LazyTown ducked under their wooden shields as the catapults surrounding the city launched a barrage of heavy steel orbs. The enormous weight of the unusually large ball bearings was heavy enough to smash through an entire section of Remus' army.

"Oh, how lovely!" Remus pranced about. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Raising an entire chunk from the ground with his magic, Remus managed to back away from the large crowd as the fighting commenced. Stephanie noticed the dictator getting away and took out the merged Trinity crystal as it continued glowing an ominous pink haze.

"Remus is getting away!" Stephanie called out to Sportacus, who was busy hurdling people from the falling debris. "I've got to go after him!"

Sportacus shook his head. "No, Stephanie! It's too dangerous!"

As the battle for LazyTown continued, Pixel ordered in another wave of attack. This time, a group of heavily armored vehicles drove down a lowered ramp coming from behind the town's local scrap heap.

"All right, guys!" Pixel ordered. "You know what to do!"

Leading the assault was Stingy, who was driving a highly upgraded version of his yellow Hornet. Strapping on a pair of goggles, he cried out, "Yeah! Burn, baby, burn!"

The sleepy-eyed brat then pressed a button on the center of the steering wheel, which activated a pair of metal rods to stick out from the sides of his car. Using his quick driving skills, Stingy used the rods to his advantage by breaking through the stone giants' legs and knocking them down. Other cars activated a mechanism similar to Stingy's while others unleashed a series of binding metallic nets that crushed the giants to piles of rubble. Another wave of armored vehicles simply acted as a shielding front to protect the catapult launchers while Sportacus called out for his air glider.

"Sportacus, where are you going!?" Stephanie rushed up to him.

"After Remus. He's not getting away this time!" He told her. "You and Robbie take cover. It looks like Pixel and the others got everything under control here."

Robbie was all too happy to oblige. "You're the boss-man!"

Stephanie then grabbed Rotten by his arm, stopping him in place. "I'm not going anywhere, Sportacus. I've got the Trinity crystal. I can use it to stop him. I just need a little more time until it's fully charged."

"I think it's charged already!" Robbie pointed out the bright flashing light. "And frankly, I don't think I like what's gonna happen next!"

Suddenly, another tremor interrupted the battle as several familiar looking structures faded into view. Parts of LazyTown were now joined with sections from CrazyTown and HazyTown, complete with townspeople and magic fog. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky and removed yet another section of Remus' stone army as a bewildered Stephanie approached her new friends.

"Ma? Jasper?" Stephanie's face lit up. "Astral? What are you guys doing here?"

Astral noticed the three crystals stuck together as it continued glowing. "The Trinity crystal. You've acquired the 3rd one after all."

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah. But what does that have to do with anything."

"Thimple!" The Professor butted in. "You thaid the crythtal helpth whatever town ith in need the motht! What better way to help than by joining the fight!?"

"Really? You're gonna help us?"

The Professor shook his head. "Well, _I'm_ not! Bye!"

Jasper then stopped the man in his tracks. "Hold it there, sonny boy! This gal's home is in danger! And though she ain't from our neck of the woods, she's part of the Trinity!"

"That's right!" Astral concurred. "And although we may come from different towns, they're still part of a bigger unit."

"Which is another way of saying we're not so different after all." Sportacus concluded.

Ma rolled up her sleeves and took out a rolling pin from her apron then turned to her fellow CrazyTowners. "Shoot, I don't know 'bout y'all but _I'm _up for a scrap!"

The CrazyTowners and HazyTowners nodded at each other and lined themselves up with the LazyTowners, ready for battle. They stood together, tall and proud and unafraid of the dangers that lie ahead of them while Remus stood on top of one of his rock giants shaking his head.

"Fools." He said under his breath. "_Heroic_ fools. Why is it the brave are always the first to die?"

The Trinity then charged forward, using anything available to them to take down Remus' rock creatures as Stephanie headed for her home.

"Stephanie!" Sportacus called out to her. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be back, Sportacus!" She called back. "I've got to go back for something!"

The pink-haired girl rushed inside her home and wasted no time going into her room. Closing the door behind her and laying her bag on the bed, the young girl opened the closet and looked at the outfit that hung there as if waiting for her all along.

Giving the outfit a once-over, Stephanie nodded and laid it on the bed. "Okay, girl. Time to show them what you're made of."

_**The Stunning Conclusion of LazyTown: The Trinity – COMING SOON! AS IN RIGHT NOW! NEXT PAGE! GO ON! GO! PLEASE? PRETTY PLEASE?**_


	21. The Battle For LazyTown & Epilogue

**Chapter 21**

Back in the streets of LazyTown, Pixel and Trixie stood in a metal chamber as a group of human sized rock creatures slowly approached them. Pixel's hands remained firmly on top of a nearby control panel, ready for action.

"Oh, look." Trixie mocked. "They want to play with us."

Pixel giggled. "Really? Okay!"

Pressing a button on the panel, Pixel activated a rotating fan of sledgehammers which immediately took to smashing through the creatures and leveling them to the ground.

"Come on." Pixel anticipated. "Go on and say it."

Trixie then giggled. "You're a genius!"

Meanwhile, Sportacus helped Robbie wheel in one of the villain's old inventions as Ziggy stood on standby. After flipping the switch, Robbie gave Ziggy the thumbs up.

"Okay, Twiggy!" Robbie said. "You're good to go!"

"It's Ziggy!" The little boy rolled his eyes back. "Okay then… Taffy!"

Just then, a large block of taffy shot through a rock minion's chest as the others slowly approached. The young candy lover took a chunk of taffy and put it in his mouth then repeated the words over and over.

"Taffy!" He continued. "Taffy! Taffy! Taffy! Taffy!"

A barrage of multicolored taffy blocks then rained down on Remus' army, knocking some over and conjoining others together. Ziggy continued this process as Robbie pat himself on the back.

"Sometimes being bad _does_ pay off." He sighed satisfyingly.

Sportacus shook his head. "Do you really want to go into all that right now?"

"…No."

Along the battlefield, Astral and his brothers of the cloth swung their battle staffs around while Ma and Jasper made some damage of their own. Leading another catapult wave was Dramatik, who stood atop one of the buildings while wearing a Napoleonic-style French uniform.

"Aim towards thy enemy!" He commanded. "And don't stop until you see the whites of their eyes!"

"They don't have eyes!" One of the LazyTowners pointed out.

"Oh, will you just launch already!?"

Ms. Busybody ran along the chaos, trying to get the children to safety. "Come on, kids! Come with me!" She turned around and noticed they were heading towards the fight instead, completely ignoring her. "Oh, why do I even bother?"

Inside the black tower, Remus stood in front of the energy meter as it started to rise. Determined to not let the town regain its activeness, Remus held out his amulet and emitted a powerful beam of energy.

Outside, the clouds started to roll in as an even more powerful fog coverage dwarfed that of HazyTown's. The Trinity was covered in a thick haze but they didn't stop fighting. Remus was now ready to smother them all with eternal laziness, haziness and downright craziness as the battle raged on out in the streets.

Stingy flipped over in his car and looked around in the fog, searching for his friends. "Hey! Where are you!? Where did this come from!? Hello?"

Sportacus rushed up to Astral and helped him thwart off one of Remus' minions. Afterwards, the old man looked up and could see the sun starting to fade out of view.

"What's going on?" Sportacus asked him. "Where did this fog come from?"

"It's Remus. He's choking the town." Astral explained. "If my suspicions are correct, he's going to do to your town what he did to mine. And quite possibly the same to CrazyTown."

A roughed up Professor wobbled towards them. "Oh, man. Thith ith heavy. I mean, really, really heavy. I don't like thith."

Just then, Sportacus' air glider came soaring through the mist with a very familiar pink-figure riding it. With a single bound, a costumed Stephanie deflected an oncoming clump of rock and landed next to her friends as they all regrouped in the center of the town.

"Stephanie?" Trixie scratched her head. "Is that you?"

"SportaStephanie you mean!" She winked at them.

"Oh not _this_ again! How many times do I have to tell you!? I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Stephanie shook her head. "I know, Trixie. But this isn't about you. I just wanted to get in the spirit of things, you know?"

A small explosion of dirt and rock startled the group as Robbie looked up at towering pillar of stone. "You wanna get into the spirit later? I think we've got bigger problems to worry about!"

"He's right!" A familiar looking pink rabbit said as he rode in on a giant chicken. "We've gotta do somethin' about this lousy fog!"

"Bob! Hen Mother!" Stephanie pet the two animals.

"Save the reunion for later, Pinky!" Robbie nagged.

"Yeah!" Stingy nodded. "How are we going to get rid of this fog?"

Astral then got an idea. "Wait! The sunlight! It overpowers the fog. If we can somehow separate the clouds, the sun's rays will pierce through the fog and eliminate it for good."

The Professor nodded. "Agreed. But how are we gonna do that? I doubt we have anything equipped for that thort of thing."

Sportacus grinned. "Oh, I think I can work something out."

As the battle continued, Remus remained inside the mayor's office within the tower and watched as the town became consumed in the blanket of fog.

"Yes." He grinned. "You'll all pay for this."

In the blink of an eye, Sportacus' airship came piercing through the dark clouds and startled the evil dictator. He breathed heavily and stuck his head out to see where the large blimp was going.

"Where did _that_ come from!?"

Inside the ship, Sportacus carefully piloted the large machine as Stephanie activated the lowering platform. Connecting a line of rope to her belt, Stephanie gave one last look at Sportacus before heading down.

"You got this, Sportacus?" She asked.

The hero nodded. "No problem. You just be careful."

Giving him the thumbs up, Stephanie slowly descended from the airship and held onto the metallic rod as Sportacus piloted the machine towards the tower. The pink superhero then grabbed an end of the rope and managed to lasso it around one of the building's many black spikes. Stephanie then climbed over the rod and managed to make it on top of one of the ship's fins. 

"Okay, Remus." She said to herself. "Here I come."

The young girl then ran along the sides of the airship while holding onto her rope then jumped off once the window to the mayor's office was in view.

"Oh, what was I thinking!?" She cried as she crashed through the window and rolled along the ground.

Remus backed away and held his amulet out. "You again!"

"Hey, Retard…" Stephanie said out of breath as she untied the rope from her belt. "Remember me? The little pink demon?"

"It's _Remus_ Tard! And If you've come to stop me, you're out of luck."

Stephanie just grinned. "Oh yeah? Why?" 

"You never learn, do you!?" Remus finally lost his temper as the gem in the amulet started to glow its eerie green haze. "Don't you get it, little girl!? I am the beginning _and_ the end of LazyTown! I am all powerful! There's no way you can save your friends! There's no way you can save your town! And there is _definitely_ no way you can stop me!"

"Wrong, Remus! Because here in LazyTown… There's _always_ a way!" Stephanie exclaimed as she held out the fully charged Trinity crystal.

"The Trinity crystal?" Remus' jaw dropped as he blasted towards the young girl.

Stephanie held onto the crystal and deflected Remus' beam with her own. The pink and green waves of energy practically blinded them but neither one refused to back down. As their energies crossed, a pattern began to develop throughout LazyTown. Remus' rock giants began to crumble up and turn to dust as the rock pillars returned to the ground. And at long last, Milford returned back to normal as the rock entrapping his body finally crumbled off.

"Oh dear…" The man shook his head as he witnessed the battle surrounding him. "What's going on?"

"Milford!" Bessie cried as she was being chased by one of the minions. "Milford! Save me! Save me!" 

"Ms. Busybody?" The man was perplexed as to why she was being chased around by a creature made entirely of rock.

Then, much to the man's horror, Ms. Busybody was knocked down as the creature slowly approached her to make the kill. Furious, Milford balled up his fist and charged for the assailant.

"You leave my woman alone!" He demanded as he wrestled around with Remus' goon.

Meanwhile, Sportacus continued flying his airship through the clouds when he noticed a powerful storm forming in the middle.

"Computer." He started. "Prepare to divert all power to the fans and rotate them to the side of the ship."

"Power has been diverted." The computer responded.

"All right. In order to get this just right, I'm going to have to go through the eye of the storm."

"No, Sportacus!" The computer protested. "Don't do it! It's a suicide mission." 

"I have no other choice."

"Please, Sportacus. I love you."

"Stiff upper modem, old girl. We'll make it through. Begin fan rotation."

The airship's fans rotated to the sides just as Sportacus had commanded. In no time at all, the above-average hero managed to pilot his blimp through the eye of the storm and separate the clouds from the sky. As the sunlight poured in, Remus' curse was lifted thus eliminating the powerful fog from LazyTown for good.

"He did it!" Ziggy jumped for joy. "Sportacus did it!"

"We won?" Stingy looked around. "We won! I can't believe it! We won!"

Pixel then pointed out to the black tower, which was brimming with pink and green energies. "Almost, Ziggy. Almost."

Stephanie and Remus remained in place, holding their energy sources towards each other and unleashing all their magic. Remus, however, was beginning to tire as he noticed Stephanie slowly moving forward.

"No…" He strained. "You can't win!"

"Of course I can…" She continued struggling forward. "It's over, Remus."

The pink energy emanating from the Trinity crystal had proven to be so powerful that it shattered the green gem within Remus' amulet and pushed the man back. As the green beam of light died out, another chain reaction spread out across the town and caused another tremor. With a loud boom, Remus' black tower slowly collapsed into the ground and lowered the mayor's office back to where it stood originally. The residents of the Trinity watched in awe as a cloud of dust shrouded the building and lingered on for quite a bit.

Sportacus finally made it back to the surface and rushed over to the pile of rubble surrounding the town hall. Eventually everyone went in to help him search for Stephanie.

"Stephanie!" Sportacus called out as he lifted a black rock. "Stephanie? Stephanie, can you hear me?"

"Stephanie!" Ziggy dug through.

"Oh dear." Milford's bottom lip started to tremble. "Don't tell me she was in there."

"Well I _was_!" Stephanie called out as she repelled from the rope as it dangled from Sportacus' airship. "But it's a good thing Sportacus flew past the tower as it fell, otherwise I might not have been able to hitch a ride!"

Milford then lovingly wrapped his arms around his niece. "Oh, Stephanie! You had me worried for a moment!"

"Sorry, uncle. I'm just glad to see you're back to normal."

"That wath thpectacular!" The Professor exclaimed. "Amathing! Thtupendouth!"

"Well done, Stephanie." Astral bowed his head. "You have restored the balance."

Stephanie juggled the Trinity crystal in her hand one last time before it finally separated into its three components. She then handed the CrazyTown crystal to the Professor and the HazyTown crystal to Astral and finally tossed Sportacus his own.

"Thanks, everybody." She smiled. "For everything."

Astral shook his head. "No. Thank _you_, young Stephanie. You have lifted the curse of Number Nine and freed us all from his tyranny."

"Yeah, what he said!" Bob coughed up some phlegm. "Jeez, I need a drink. Or a carrot. Preferably both!"

"Hey, check this out!" Trixie called out as she unearthed an old man from the rubble. "It's Remus!"

Remus was now old and frail yet still alive. His face was severely wrinkled and covered with liver spots while his smooth, blond locks were replaced with thin, worn-out white strands.

"Remus?" Robbie helped the old man up. "Is that you?"

"Huh!?" Remus griped. "Is that you, Billy?"

"Robbie, actually." 

"What!? Speak up, son! I can't hear you!" The old man then coughed harshly and caused Robbie to grimace. "Where's my amulet? I need it!"

Astral tossed the gold amulet over to Stephanie. "Keep it. He won't be needing it anytime soon."

"Thanks." She giggled. "But what are we going to do with him?"

"Don't worry." Ms. Busybody said. "I've got an idea."

♠♠♠♠♠

"I'll get you for this, LazyTown! You haven't seen the last of me!" Remus shouted from behind a window. "I swear on your children's children's children, uhh…. Children… you haven't seen the last of me! No, wait… I already said that."

Just then, a man in a white uniform sat Remus down in his wheelchair and turned him around. "Come on, Mr. Tard. It's time for your dinner."

"Dinner? Oh boy! Applesauce and medicine! Can I get extra penicillin? Please?"

"We'll see, Mr. Tard." The orderly chuckled as he wheeled the old man along the halls of Lazy Hills Retirement home.

_**EPILOGUE…**_

Once the Trinity had separated back to their respective places and all goodbyes had been said, a few secrets had been uncovered.

It turns out that the infant Remus saw drift away those many years ago and painfully lingered on in his memory was none other than the Professor. He had drifted along the LazyTown pond which led to the Yawn River, where he eventually ended up in CrazyTown. He was taken in by a loving family and lived there for a while before Remus made his brief visit there.

The road in CrazyTown was finally repaired and for the first time in a long time, the insane residents were able to travel beyond their city limits and explore the world around them.

The wall in HazyTown was finally knocked down and Bob found a home living amongst the monks. But seeing as how his lifestyle conflicted their beliefs, he went back to the Cave of Despair and made a fortune turning it into a tourist attraction.

In LazyTown, Milford Meanswell was reelected yet again as mayor of the fine town. No one had any objections. In their eyes, Milford was and always will be the one true mayor of LazyTown.

The townspeople got together for a celebration for their mayor and while they were enjoying themselves, Stephanie noticed someone wasn't there to join in on the festivities.

"Stephanie?" Sportacus gave her a concerned look. "Is something wrong?" 

"Well not really…" She looked around the town center, where several banners and streamers hung from the various buildings. "I'll be back."

"Hey, Stephanie!" Ziggy shouted. "You're gonna miss out on the cake!"

"Let her go." Stingy said. "More cake for me. Let's see… this is mine… this is mine… that's mine, too…"

♠♠♠♠

Inside his lair, Robbie struggled to fall asleep on his fuzzy orange chair but something wouldn't let him. There was hardly any noise coming from the surface but for some strange reason, he just couldn't sleep.

"What's wrong with me!?" He griped. "I'm so sleepy! But I can't sleep! Why!?"

"Having trouble?" Stephanie startled the man.

"What are you doing here!? Shouldn't you be up there having a good time and eating cake?"

"Not without all my friends."

"What happened? Sportadork didn't get an invite?"

"Oh, he got one. And so did you, Robbie."

"What? Really?"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah. After all… you _are_ one of my friends. Right?"

Robbie thought for a moment. "Uhh… well, I ..." He then sighed. "Sure, kid. Of course I am."

"Well then, come on!" She pulled him by the wrist. "We don't want to miss out on the cake!"

"Just hold on a minute!" He grumpily shook away from her grasp. "There's something I gotta know. You went through all that trouble, traveling through the Trinity and getting in all sorts of crazy predicaments and you did it all to save this town? Why? I would have just moved to CrazyTown or something!"

"We're different, I suppose. But there's one thing we have in common. We both risked our necks. After all, weren't you the one who made sure I went to the right place and didn't get hurt? Well, for the most part."

Robbie froze in place. He knew she was right. "That's different! You wanted to prove to those brats you were a hero and you did! So there!"

Stephanie just smiled as she gave him a hug. "You turned out to be one yourself, you know."

"Oh… _whatever_."

_**And that is…**_

**THE END**

_**Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't cry over this but… wait. I'm not crying. Never mind. No, seriously. I can't. No tear ducts. My thanks to everyone who took the time to read and review my story. They're the fuel to my fire, if you know what I mean. And I'll be back soon with another story. Though I should warn you. If you're already aware of the stuff I'm capable of, it just might be another "crack fic" as some of you have come to call them. Heheh… that's funny. Who knows? I might not ever write again. This could quite possibly be my last fic ever… though probably not.**_


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